Morten Nottelmann is a tinkerer, teacher, and proud
father. He is a guest lecturer at Kaospilot, and helps us
develop concepts and solve tricky problems.

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W

e all live among a special breed of people. From a
distance it is difficult to tell them apart from the
rest of us. At first sight they might even come
across as average, with the sameness in features

we can see in us all. But don’t be mistaken. They might hide
behind sameness and uniforms, but they are in fact alchemists
constantly busy with turning esoteric dreams into golden reality.
We call them Topians.
If you get a chance to get closer to one, take a deeper look into
their eyes. You will witness the most magnificent sight. Behind
their eyelids a roaring ballet of the mind is taking place. It is the
electric firestorm that births ideas, as it turns into gentle action.
It is a current that flows from their hearts and minds into their
hands and feet, lifting them up and forcing them to act, to do, to
build and to make the utopian constructions of their minds into
real places in the physical World. Places so lush, beautiful and
poetic that the rest of us would deem them impossible to create—
if we could even imagine them in the first place.
They don’t mind scepticism. Their flame is only fired by naysayers. No comfort-seeking, scared or frozen-up resistance can
hold them back. They will break any cynical expectation of what
life can be, and carry us forward towards a planet with more joy,
colours and possibilities.
So let’s allow ourselves to be amazed by their creations. While
some are tiny and only short-lived, others may turn into
cathedrals for generations to enjoy. They represent what the
world needs now: a hope for a beautiful future for all, not only
shared as colourful fairy tells but as places to visit and play. But be
warned! It will prove hard to accept the dull humdrum of average
once you have felt a Topia…

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TOPIA

WORDS FROM
THE TEAM LEADER

“I’m tired of reading about all these places that sound so perfect but never get
lifted off the page into reality. Just for once, I’d like to see humans go from
fantasy to fact. From utopia, which in Greek literally means ‘no place,’ to topia.”

- Paolo Lugari, founder of Gaviotas *

I

Dear Reader,

n the following pages, we hope to offer you a glimpse of the work carried out
by Team 20 during their final year, at Kaospilot. These pragmatic idealists set
out to connect with issues, individuals and communities that they believe to
be important and then spent half a year developing concepts and projects that
were a response to the needs and opportunities they encountered. The projects
and experiments they set out to create will offer you a sense of what matters
to them, what they learned, and even who they became along the way. Each
story is as unique as the student who created it.

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FIN A L P R OJ EC TS 20 16

After having the privilege of spending a year working with Team 20, I think this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
catalogue theme very much relates to their spirits, as individuals and as a team. The
assignment contains various tensions which are incredibly challenging to negotiate: the
tension between idealism and realism, boldness and humility, imagination and follow
through, discipline and wildness. I admire how Team 20 courageously and persistently
navigated through the complexity and uncertainty of their final year. It has been an
intensive training in learning how to bring dreams and ideas to reality, and my sense is
that the stories you are about to enjoy are only the beginning for Team 20, and we can
expect many more ambitious experiments, projects and ventures in the coming years.
Twenty-five years ago, Thomas and Uffe envisioned their own topia, in the school. A
place where fanstastical, fragile and fledgeling ideas, along with the stewards of the
ideas, can find shelter until they grow and become more robust and weather ready. The
idea for such a place not only attracted students but a community of change makers,
teachers, collaborators and mentors who share our passion for testing whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible.
We are blessed with such an incredibly generous community of role models who
support the students in their education, and eight of them have contributed with an
essay interpreting the theme.
We hope these pages inspire you to seek out people, places and ideas that challenge
your notion of what is possible.
Happy reading.
Sincerely,
Pete Sims,

*Gaviotas: a Village to Reinvent the World, by Alan Weisman
7

Pete Sims,
Team Leader for T20
Head of Curriculum Research
and Development
Aarhus May 26th, 2016

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WORDS FROM
T H E P R I N C I PA L

A

Dearest reader,
new cohort of students is on the verge of departing from the
Kaospilot. This publication offers you a chance to take part in
what they have conducted, created and learned throughout
their last project at the school.
We at Kaospilot put a whole lot of emphasis on praxis: on
making something happen and learning through action. I
believe that these project presentations reflect that.

The sign of the times (with reference to Prince) is more
than anything ambiguity. Old truths are crumbling, but it is
unclear what they will be replaced with. New opportunities are arising, but what is beneficial to
act on is obscured. People are exposed to so many choices, but there is no given narrative to
guide them in making decisions .
Perhaps the words from the song “Wild is the wind” by Tiomkin and Washington (recorded
by Johnny Mathis in 1957, Nina Simone in 1959 and not the least David Bowie in 1976)
illuminates it best:
“For we’re like creatures in the wind, and wild is the wind.”
It is truly a conundrum.
An old friend of mine once said that there are three types of people in this world: There are
those that make things happen. Then there are those that watch things happen. Finally there
are those who asked, what happened?
Kaospilots, and not the least Team 20, have shown throughout their final projects that one
way to act within and through this conundrum is to act, to make things happen. By trying
something out, doing a gesture towards a positive inclination, they have set things in motion.
It may not be a perfect future, fully realized, but it is a future in the making.
Happy reading.
Christer

“It is a celebration of an intense,
colourful and adventure-filled life…
in community.”

“It’s a house that
welcomes and cares for
lost geniuses.”

- Karin Barreth, former assistant to Uffe. Head of
Office and Culture. Storyholder for Kaospilot.

- Thomas Heide, co-founder Kaospilot

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TOPIA

THE AIMS OF THE
K A O S P I L O T E D U C AT I O N

by Pete Sims,

Team Leader for Team 20, Head of Research and Development

The Pilot Project, carried out throughout the entire third year, is truly the culmination of the
entire three-year Kaospilot education. In essence the intention of the third year is the same as
the entire education. The students come into the schools with their own dreams and aspirations.
So do the staff and the teachers. What binds everyone together is that we are all radically in
service of the following four aims:

AIM 1:

CREATE VALUE WITH & FOR OTHERS

to the disciplines, we are also very focused on the idea of more
general leadership competences: Action Competence, Subject
Competence, Relationship Competence, Change Competence.

A core aim of the education overall, is to train and support the
students in creating, developing and testing out concepts and
projects that are original, relevant and needed in the World. The
particulars surrounding the project, such as the field and idea are
mostly left up to the student to decide so that it is aligned with
their passions and interest. That said all their work should strive to
create deep value and be of quality. What does deep value mean,
exactly? It is a challenging questions and many questions are
always raised as the students dive into the complexity of trying
to create something of value. Some questions that guide the
students and staff in their projects and investigations include: Who
is this project serving? How can this idea create multiple benefits
and opportunities for those involved? How does it fit with the
context and culture? How is it meaningful and to whom? What is
the story? Is it beautiful? It is original? Is it functional? How is this
strengthening relationships and community? Is it delightful? Who
would pay for it? What kind of money can it generate and for who?
How is this contributing to sustainability?

A key element to developing enterprising leadership is the
cultivation of character. It lies beyond competence, skill or
method. It’s the meaty stuff, where the students really grow. We
have used many names and words, over the years, to describe
it. Known for many years, at the school, as the “Inner Pilot”, it
was then referred to as personal leadership. Character refers to
certain qualities, that one sees in person and how they act in a
given situation. Based on they types of challenges that come up
as the students create their projects, business and other, ventures
we are seeking to help them train and cultivated certain virtues
such as courage, toughness, generosity, humor, honesty, lightness,
openness and grit. And of course balance. These qualities are most
important and tested in how well one responds to challenges,
frustration, conflicts and uncertainty.

AIM 2:

AIM 4:

DEVELOP THEIR ABILITIES AS KAOSPILOTS

At the heart of the education is the aim of becoming skilled.
Without a focus on learning, development and cultivating their
craft, all that passion, energy an those wonderful ideas may be
squandered as the students are not able to realize them, or at least
not without using too much energy and suffering unnecessarily,
in the process. This calls for practice, patience, being humble, and
a dedication to learning that spans well beyond graduation. It’s a
lifelong journey. The craft of the Kaospilot is called Enterprising
Leadership. It combines the methods, tools and theories from our
four disciplines Creative Project Design, Creative Business Design,
Creative Process Design and Leadership. The disciplines are
applied in various combinations based on the specific context of
the project. Along with all of the professional qualifications related

AIM 3:

CULTIVATE THEIR CHARACTER

CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY

A key aim of the education is to offer the students the opportunity
to connect with inspiring, generous, creative and supportive people
within the Kaospilot community, and beyond. The community
is wide-ranging, spanning across many continents, consisting of
project partners, clients, collaborators, mentors and advisors,
teachers, allies, activists, entrepreneurs, artists, community
members and institutions within the public, private, civil and
cultural sectors. All of these wonderful people interact with and
collaborate with the students. They spend three years working
together in various constellations and groups. We see learning
as a deeply social process and learning to work in a wide and
diverse range of formations and cultures is key to developing their
leadership.

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A SUCCESSFUL AND POSSIBLY
TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
AT KAOSPILOT RESULTS FROM
STRIVING TOWARDS ALL FOUR
AIMS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
1.

We have been developing a
new festival called Change
Island, in collaboration with
Hyper Island: a space where
connection, co-creation,
collaboration and diversity
come to life
The Context and the Concept

In November, I was hired by Hyper Island school, in Karlskrona,
to project lead a 3 day festival that was set to take place on
September 22 - 24 2016. This festival was an exciting opportunity
that could allow me to connect to my passion and support
the Hyper Island team’s vision of developing a co-created and
collaborative festival where deep connections could happen. This
was a perfect fit with my learning goal to practice the skills related
to co-creation and developing collaborations.
Together with three of the Hyper Island staff, we have been
co-creating the Change Island concept. The concept seeks to
connect new applicants, emerging entrepreneurs and established
companies, in the tech sector, in a dynamic, vivid and co-created
setting. How can we seed a sense of wonder and imagination for
the diverse group of participants? In terms of larger needs it also

seeks to help “put Karlskrona on the map”, as a destination to
study and do business.
My role has been to support the team and lead ‘The Change Island
experiment’. This experiment was a learning event that served as a
prototype that can be scaled up into a 3 day change Island learning
festival happening in September,
The work that I did with Hyper Island was:
• Designing and leading process to support the team and
stakeholders in different phases of the project
• Design, facilitating and executing the Change Island
experiment: the foundation for the event in September
• Co-developing Change Island from a business, project and
concept perspective.
During the journey, the team and I had to face many unexpected
changes. It called for me to connect to my process, project
management, business and leadership training, and thereby
re-scope my role and contract to end in April 2016 instead of
September.

My Learning

The Kaospilot training has allowed me to unlocked my being in
unimaginable ways. I have learned on many levels: professionally,
personally and spiritually. While impossible to share them all here,
my biggest learning is about Bravery. Bravery means stepping into
whatever fear you have, to then move forward and beyond that
fear. I have learned to move through my fear during this journey.
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What enabled me to do so was to surround myself with people
who I could talk to and gain support, reflections and feedback
from, on a regular basis. I have learned that fear is a natural
part of who I am, but I can choose to let it control my actions
or I can let it just be my radar, that informs me about my
current boundaries. I realized that when fear arises, it also
brings an opportunity to learn something new. It can bring me
to a space of personal growth. When I am stuck in fear, my
mind creates scenarios that are not real, which exaggerate my
current reality, and which blurs my ability to see the which step
I need to take. I have learned to bring my mind into a place of
calmness through Yoga, meditation, listening to music or just
going for a walk. When finding a place of silence, I am able to
ground myself again, and see my next step. I have realized that
fear will always be present in my life, but there comes a point
where I must let go of it, and make the decision to step into my
true path, if I want to become the person that I aspire to be.

My biggest challenge this year was finding ways to move the
project forward while working with a very busy team.
My biggest surprise this year was seeing how many people
are willing to help if you just reach out and ask them.
I am most proud of being able to keep my daily personal
practices of yoga and healthy food even in the most intense
working moments.
I discovered that I am good at taking the necessary
responsibilities that help the team move forward.
I need to work on being more present and grounded when
facilitating processes.
I dream about creating transformational spaces that bring
diverse people together to deeply connect.

This journey has opened my mind to see possibilities that I
wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to see before. I leave this experience with more
confidence and a deeper understanding of leadership and
concept development. I will be taking my experiences forward
by stepping into new projects and initiatives with the focus of
co-creating and supporting collaboration amongst people.

Alisa A. Hentze
alisa@kaospilot.dk
www.linkedin.com/in/alisahentze
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L ucas G rind

THE SPHERICAL SCHOOL

How can a learning platform
and community contribute to
transform our culture to be
more inclusive of the natural
world and its mysteries? How
can we see the natural world
as possessing value in itself,
beyond only being a resource
to be exploited for human
purposes?
The Context and the Concept

beyond what we thought was possible.
The purpose of our convening is to engage with something larger
than ourselves and because of this feel more truly alive.
We are a community of participants gathering on a oncemonthly basis to explore various themes with key input
from invited contributors. Our spaces are guided by a set of
principles and frames for learning that are experiential, sensorial,
experimentative, and collaborative in character. This work opens us
to experience how our cultural beliefs and assumptions influence
our understanding of the world in which we live.

THE VISION

We envision that our work will contribute to extend and evolve
our cultural beliefs and assumptions about how the world works so
that we can become more inclusive of other human beings and of
beings in the non-human world.

These questions stuck with me after spending three nights
of solitude with no food in the Swedish forest last summer. I
experienced my monkey mind running sprints, dead scared of
the calmness in the forest while longing back to all distractions
in the city. As if something wanted to distract me from sensing
and feeling what was actually happening inside, and around me. I
couldn’t stop asking myself, am I free, or hostage of a story about
how to be in this world? Something else that stuck with me was an
immerse encounter with a beautiful mossy forest which opened
me to a sense of mystery, wonder and connection. I felt alive.
Something new wanted to be born…

She was named The Spherical School and was located in Järna,
outside Stockholm. She came to life in collaboration with my
artist friend Ruben. The concept in (somewhat) straight lines is as
follows:

THE PROCESS

The Spherical School is a learning platform hosting spaces in which
we experience how we’ve been living and how we can expand

Examples of themes in our offerings: ecology, myth and stories,
exploration of wildness and personal borders, urban “rites-ofpassage”, original play (primal), earth dialogues and dreamtime
in the woods, social change inspired by the trickster archetype,
hero’s journey explorations in our inner landscapes.

The process was straightforward and already in September
we established a collaboration with the artistic network Dark
Mountain and Riksteatern in Sweden to bring interesting
international and Swedish guests to host workshops on our
respective platforms. We had writer and mythologist Martin
Shaw, artist Ansuman Biswas and the writer and community
activist Charlotte Du Cann visiting our Open Spheres during the
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FIN A L P R OJ EC TS 20 16

autumn. In the spring, our local duo Torsten and Hanna hosted a
workshop in original play, while Ruben and I offered an exploration
of personal borders. In between these events we have been invited
to teach at schools and art collectives. This flying start pushed
me to conceptualize our idea early in the process, which involved
turning rather abstract thoughts around the story of our civilization
existence into practical and workable output.
In parallel I have worked full time at Mannaz consulting firm as
a leadership consultant, a somewhat odd combination that has
proven to bring valuable synergies.

My biggest challenge this year was to translate abstract
thinking to practical output
My biggest surprise this year was how everything wanted to
happen
I am most proud of the value expressed in participants’
feedback
I discovered that I am good at getting folks on board
I need to work on becoming an outstanding storyteller

Finally, what’s been central throughout the process is the letting go
of control beyond right and wrong, good and bad, both in relation
to the kind of experience we offer, but also on a personal level. This
has been challenging and amazing at the same time - I have indeed
felt more alive, connecting back to the purpose of the Spherical
School.

I dream about creating an art school

WHAT’S AROUND THE CORNER?

It doesn’t end here. This summer we are making a week long
art project named Dungen - a creative wilderness. We are state
financed and have a curator. More teaching and open spheres are
in the planning for the fall - and somewhere deep down the line,
Ruben and I dream of establishing an alternative education as a full
time jam.
23

Lucas Grind
lucas@kaospilot.dk
sfariska.se
lucasgrind.com

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T ine M eldgaard J ensen

Becoming an enterprising leader

Through an internship in DR
Sales I´ve been working on
different projects, practicing
my enterprising leadership. In
my work I have been playing
with big scale budgets, a large
number of stakeholders,
negotiations, planning,
concept development, ideations
and execution – while dealing
with high levels of complexity
and unknowns.
Early morning on Wednesday the 9th of March I get a phone
call. It´s the reception letting me know my guests have arrived.
Yes! Finally it´s happening. I take a deep breath, pick up the pile
of stuff I´ve prepped and head down for the lobby. I´ve gone over
this day so many times in my head, trying to imagine what it will
be like. I can´t even describe it as a dream coming true, because
I never imagined it as a possibility, but today I will actually meet
him. He has been a big hero of mine, since I was about 2 years old.
I clearly remember how heart breaking it was when I first started
noticing that he wasn´t always nice, but with a strong belief in his
good heart, he always remained as a big hero of mine - Bamse. I´m
well aware I´m way too old to be this excited, but for the last few
months I´ve fully embraced the seven year old within. I´ve kept
an ironic distance to it when sharing it with others, I’ve called it
research, laughing about it, but I´m pretty sure the excitement has
been obvious to everyone around me.

Through an internship in DR Sales I´ve been working on different
projects, practicing my enterprising leadership. The crown
jewelry of the work I´ve done is Børne TVs Historie (The Story
of Danish Children´s TV), a partnership with Den Gamle By
(The Old City), funded by Nordea Fonden. The project´s main
product is an exhibition, telling the story of Danish children´s TV
from the 1950´s up until today through pictures, archive clips,
stories, interactive installations and iconic props and dolls. The
exhibition is supported by events and activities executed over five
weekends plus a set of educational material. In my work I´ve been
playing with big scale budgets, a large number of stakeholders,
negotiations, planning, concept development, ideations and
execution with a high level of complexity and unknowns.
The practical work have been a great frame to test and develop
my enterprising leadership within, which has lead to new learnings
and rich reflections on enterprising leadership and project
management.

THREE INSIGHTS

Complexity and unknown factors are not something that needs
fixing – use it as the project´s advantage instead. Keeping one foot
in the known allows you to put the other in the unknown – doing
so you can set yourself up for success in exploring and unfolding
creativity.
You are strong alone, even stronger teaming/partnering up. Do
what you are good at, and let everyone else do the same. Doing so
you can reach further, higher and faster.
Engage stakeholders through storytelling and be curious, exploring
where it will take you.

You can look forward to:

• Børne TVs Historie in Den Gamle By May 4th 2016- January
8th 2017.
• Events in Den Gamle By in May, August and September

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2016.
• Educational material and a treasure hunt extending the
experience of the exhibition from May 4th.
• Educational material at dr.dk/gymnasium for high
schoolars focused on developing a bullshit filter with the
methods of the DR2 brand Detektor, launching in the
middle of June.
• A method focused Detektor board game, launching in the
middle of June.
• A long number of DR board games published in the fall,
2016.

My biggest challenge this year was letting go.
My biggest surprise this year was Christian Odd, Kasper
Zederkof & Nanna Uldsø.
I am most proud of my relations.
I discovered that I am good at inspiring people.
I need to work with project management in new ways.
I dream about creating learning, impact and inspiration.

After some intense, fun, busy and learning full months, I look
forward to graduating – holding the piece of paper in my
hands, that confirms I´m a Kaospilot. With my new title at
hand I let go of another, and face a new reality. The plan at the
moment is to go freelance, looking for project employments.
So far I know I have a few events in Den Gamle By to execute,
and another exhibition to coordinate in the fall. A part from
this, I don´t know yet, but I´m curious to explore what could
be. But at first I have an apartment with a lot of boxes waiting
to be unpacked, a group of lovely people I haven´t spend much
time with in months, and a once upon a time a physical shape
to catch up with.

Tine Meldgaard Jensen
Linkedid: Tine Meldgaard Jensen

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RASMUS STRIDE

Stride Studio

Can business and art be
combined and what does the
future of visual
concert experiences at Roskilde
Festival look like?

beginning that I had to explore how far my passion could bring me.

Even before I started at Kaospilot I have had a strong interest in
music and concerts. I was part of starting my own festival when
I was 17 years old, and music has been an inspiration to my life
always. It wasn’t before I went to the digital school Hyper
Island a good 5 years ago that I discovered graphic design and
production. I found it very appealing but always lost patience due
to the hours spent in front of the computer designing and my
interest slowly died.

“What is a creative business model for working as a VJ?”

At the first assignment we ever got at Kaospilot, a grandiose party
in a big film studio, I decided that I wanted to venture into the
world of VJing!
Wikipedia definition of “VJing”:
“VJing is a broad designation for realtime visual performance.
Characteristics of VJing are the creation or manipulation of
imagery in real time through technological mediation and for an
audience, in synchronization to music.”
I didn’t know much about the concept or how it was done, but I
just had this urge to dive into it. I got in contact with a mentor who
taught me the basics.
I was intrigued and excited for my first performance! And when
the night was done I was hooked! This was amazingly fun! It
reminded me of playing music and designing at the same time! It
was an amazing feeling! I totally lost myself in the process and in
what felt like 4 minutes, a whole night of 4 hours could be over.
Along with my studies at Kaospilot I continued exploring the world
of VJing at every opportunity that was presented to me. The first
two years at the school I did nothing else but being behind the
computer at every party. It was amazing.
When the third year project was approaching I knew from the

My final year project was starting my own company and creative
studio within the field of VJing. The studio is called Stride Studio.
My process has been divided into three main phases:

1st Phase: Discovery

In this phase I tried to nail a business model that would provide as a
starting point for the further journey of my project.
I worked together with amazing partners, among others: Otto
Kubista, OKclothing, creating artistic branding experiences in
South Africa and Thomas Horsted, Startup Guide, designing
memorable product launches in Copenhagen and Berlin.
It was basically a time when I threw everything into the air and saw
what stuck. What kind of problems my art and service was actually
solving and what value it created in the world.

2nd phase: Validation

“How can experience design become even better using VJing as
a part of the design ?”
From my discovery phase I found that VJing is a great tool for
telling stories and designing experiences.
I have created a spatial design solution for an undisclosed
organization*, in a skyscraper in Beijing. The organization is working
on creating better working conditions for employees in China.
*I can’t tell much more about the project due to the NDA I’ve
signed.
The exhibition you are attending right now has a visual element. I
invite you To think of the story it is telling and investigate how you
can influence it.

3rd phase: Scale

“To become a renowned art studio, grow industry traction and
deliver the leading human centered experience design service in
Scandinavia.”

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Amazing times lies ahead! My main focus is on the work I am
doing with Roskilde Festival. I am managing and facilitating an
initiative where upcoming musicians and VJs are collaborating
to create live performances. The performances will be held at
the brand new electronic scene “The Countdown stage” on this
year’s Roskilde Festival.

My biggest challenge this year was money.
My biggest surprise this year was business development.
I am most proud of my personal development.
I discovered that I am good at being brave.

A big part of the work I am doing with Roskilde Festival is
focused on building a sustainable foundation for VJ talents in
the Nordic countries. The project has funding for three years
and the plan is to extend the activities to not only Roskilde
Festival, but also other festivals like Plug-out, Strøm and
Phono.

I need to work on price setting my work.
I dream about creating visuals everywhere!

WHAT’S NEXT?

My plan for the future is to follow through on my vision for the
studio:
Stride Studio is the multidisciplinary visual art studio of
Rasmus Ottesen Stride. It’s based in Scandinavia and mainly
Norway/Denmark. The studio specializes in developing and
implementing human centered audio visual experience design.
Stride Studio serves as an artistic platform and the main
initiator for building a strong Scandinavian VJ community.

Think of our planet as a closed
system where everything is
connected.
Everything you do will always
affect something, and every day
it is your responsibility to chose
how you want to effect.
This saying has been one of the
ground pillars of my third year.
UNDERSTANDING OF PROJECT

For me this year has not only become a first step into a carrier, but
it has most definitely also resulted in a transition of who I am, how
I am in the world and what I would like to offer to it.
In the end, it has been a question of opening up for other realities/
stories than the one the western civilization/capitalistic system
offers us, and trying to navigate in that.
To be in the world without being run over by hopelessness and
numbness!
I found this to be incredibly difficult but equally important,
so I dedicated my project to radically investigate, explore and
experiment with what alternatives there are to the system we live
in today. I wanted to honor the possibility of really thinking and
being - differently.

I believe in a connection between everything on this planet and I
have therefor been working from an eco-centric worldview.
And I believe that if we are to do things sincerely differently, and
not continue creating from the same thinking and systems which
has led us here in the first place, we must look down. Stop. And
understand the ground we are standing on and see the connections
between everything.

THE PROJECT

Kaospilots has for me been an education in holistic leadership, so
that is my craft and combined with field of regeneration (how we
can, not only be â&#x20AC;&#x153; sustainableâ&#x20AC;? in the form of going to status quo,
but regenerate and heal the wounds we have created)
I found that I wanted to create a leadership methodology which
can help support the next step of the evolutionary process into a
direction of regeneration.
The small personal transition to assist the bigger transitions
needed.
In other words, I have been really curious, found and tested a lot of
different ways which I believe can help the individual live in respect
and peace with oneselves and the rest of nature. Concretely I have
held workshops, created spaces for others to explore existence,
been coaching, been building a network of philosophers, activists,
leadership-developers and many more.
This is my field which I will explore beyond Kaospilots.
My professional focus is on leadership development and my heart
with the whole of nature.

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And the project is to be my base and first step into a life long
exploration.

My biggest challenge this year was to understand and respect
the never ending beautiful flaws of oneself.

I would like to end of with a quote which has stuck to my
project.

My biggest surprise this year was how many people who have
devoted their lives to the same cause as I.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand
everything better.”

I am most proud of the courage I have showed this year.
I discovered that I am good at bonding with people.

- Albert Einstein

I need to work on how to communicate my findings to people
who do not have the same focus.

MY DREAM IS (the future)

I dream about creating a regenerative leadership
methodology for all.

That the leadership methodology can be used by everyone who
wants to live in respect for all living systems, in their everyday
life to activate their own leadership.
Going into an apprenticeship with leading roles within
“transformative” and regenerative leadership development.
and remind yourself of that everything you do will have
consequences for yourself and for the system. It is up to you to
choose which consequences you want to have.

Cecilia Kjems Sairanen
cks@kaospilot.dk

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TOPIA

H aotian C heng

Discover your why: unfolding purpose
across cultures

4 years ago, I applied for the
Kaospilot with a vision to
develop people’s strength and
help them to explore how to do
what they love. 4 years later,
and after much exploration, I
am surprised that my real “why”
has never changed.
My project

I have no doubt that I am a “why” person. I always want to
understand the purpose behind my actions. If I can’t get an answer
immediately, I will think and look inwards until I find it. “Discover
your why” is a concept that I commit to late in my third year. My
journey, this year, has been a process of learning about my role in
the World and to discover what truly matters to me.
My process of discovery consisted of connecting to leading
communities in pursuit of answers to similar questions. I have been
studying Theory U, both online and in England, at the Theory U
foundation program, where I met many change makers who are
involved in Theory U community in China. I sensed with this group
of people have a similar sense of passion, energy, connection as I
experienced at Kaospilot. So I returned a second time, this year, to
China and helped facilitate the first Theory U foundation program
there. I worked with Otto Scharmer and Lili Xu Brandt to facilitate
a course for CEOs, at the China Europe International Business
School. Through the workshop, I witnessed that even successful
business people has lost their sense of “WHY”. When money is not

an issue any more, these CEOs were looking for their true passion
again. So it is with many start-ups. There is too much pressure on
young people to earn money, be rich, be successful. Therefore, as
a young entrepreneur myself, I want to guide young entrepreneurs
to start with their life purpose through teaching, coaching and
simply being curious about their stories.
Facilitators create a field to help people to share their stories
and to connect with their body and heart. These simple and clear
practices, backed up by a coherent world view and paradigm, really
help people to connect on a very deep level. I believe that creating
a solid platform for people to listen deeply to each other will help
people develop their levels of consciousness and see themselves
more clearly, within a social system.

My Process

I started the third year with an intention of creating intercultural
connections between travellers and locals. My first prototype
consists of building connections between Danish locals and
foreigners, by hosting a a Chinese dinner. I learned that people
who don’t know each other can easily build connections when they
make food together. I recognised that there was a common goal
that people tried to achieve together, which helped them to share
stories about their cultural background and traveling experiences.
After the prototype, I explored how to expand the concept to put
more focus on leadership and intercultural learning and sharing.
After I went back to China, I found a group of traditional Chinese
painters interested in showing the working in Denmark. I brought
their paintings to Denmark and made an exhibition at Musikhuset
in Aarhus, I realized that the artist group had a different purpose
than mine, which was to promote their work outside of China.
After a misunderstanding with the group around intention, I

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FIN A L P R OJ EC TS 20 16

realised my project was not aligned with my own deeper why.

My biggest challenge this year was finding out what truly
matter to me.

Through out my third year, I had been practicing Theory U
with different communities and through this work, I realized
the importance of building human connections. I realised
that this was my true calling and started to focus on this work
completely. I saw the current reality that not a lot people are
working towards realizing their why, and I got excited when I
imagine I can help more and more people to work in the things
they truly love. After the experience working with Theory U,
I learned that I need to create a good social field to build deep
connection. So that people will be able to reflect and discover
their personal whys together.

My biggest surprise this year was how many good
conversations I had this year.
I am most proud of how good I handled uncertainty and
adversity.
I discovered that I am good at getting inspirations.
I need to work on building up a business.
I dream about creating my own consultancy company to
realize people’s life purpose.

What’s next?

My next step is to keep developing a program with different
methodologies and practices to help Chinese entrepreneurs
discovering their why. I will return to China to work with
entrepreneurs in in start-up incubators. to teach the
importance of knowing why and help to formulate each
entrepreneurs why. My wish is for every entrepreneur is able
to articulate their why whenever they communicate to their
customers or making decisions on what to focus on.

What if all designers spent
time with their user group
before producing products?
Developing methods for Design
Thinking and user-centered
design.

Thinking was the way to developing better products, while wasting
fewer resources. We had also found out that most design is done
without good research or user involvement, often resulting in
unwanted products.

IdeIde

Eventually our eyes turned to Danish elementary schools. The
Ministry of education was implementing a new subject, for 4th
-6th grade, called “Håndværk og Design” (“Crafts and Design”).
The former subjects of textile and woodwork were being merged,
with a new layer of introducing children to design processes. But
the implementation had proven to be a complex process. One of
the issues was that teachers did not feel equipped to teach about
design, innovation and entrepreneurship.

During the past six months, We have used our strengths to
develop a product that supports Danish elementary school
teachers in taking their students through creative design
processes. It is an analogue, card-based solution, named IdeIde.
IdeIde makes it easy for teachers, and others, to put together
and execute design processes, without them being required to go
through training or acquire expert knowledge on beforehand. It
gives teachers the opportunity to plan their lessons weeks ahead,
in as little as 20 minutes.

What have we been learning?

As Kaospilot students, one of your biggest challenges is actually
explaining to others what the education is about. We have used
many one-liners throughout the three years: “Creative Business
School”; “Leadership Study”; “Professional Rebels”…
At one point, our duo reached the conclusion that in many ways
we had been through a design education. In the first year all
students are trained in Design Thinking, an approach to problemsolving and developing creative solutions. From this foundation,
we approached most of our projects, in one way or another, using
Design Thinking, whether aware of it or not.

What we wanted to learn more about

We were both interested in the world of design and excited about
the possibility of calling ourselves designers. So we set out to
explore:
• What is design and how is it done in Denmark?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Design Thinking?
• What are our personal hypothesis about how design should be
done? Can we verify these?
After our initial research we stood firm in our belief that Design

Finding a challenge

We wanted to try out working as design thinkers, to better master
the approach and get a feel for its value. We looked for possible
design challenges, reaching out to organizations and different
players in fields we found interesting.

We saw this as the right challenge for us for several reasons:
• A clear need
• With our background in creative processes we had credentials
for offering support.
• We believe that complex problem solving and creativity should
take up more space in the elementary school’s curriculum.
• It was an opportunity to walk our talk. Working through design
thinking to find a way to educate about design processes.

Getting to know the need

We reached out to elementary schools, and other players who
could help us get our foot in the door. It took time, but slowly our
network of teachers and experts grew, and eventually we had a
diverse group willing to collaborate.
We wanted to understand the needs there were to be fulfilled if
the implementation of “Håndværk og Design” should be a success.
After that we would design an answer to some of these needs.
In January and February, we observed the teachers and
interviewed them. Alongside this, we met with experts and
organisations working with innovation and education.

Creating a solution

In March, we gathered our findings and analysed them. We listed
the criteria our solution would have to live up to. Now we were
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FIN A L P R OJ EC TS 20 16

ready to ideate on solutions. Out of that brainstorming process
came the idea of what is now our finalised product.

HENRIETTE
My biggest challenge this year was to understand what a concept
means!
My biggest surprise this year was how well our collaboration worked!
I am most proud of what Anna and I have created through out these
6 months.
I discovered that I am good at being in the void - even though it can
be really hard.
I need to work on my Kegel exercises :)
I dream about creating a career out of this way of working - who
wouldn’t like to play all day at work?

Reception

We prototyped the cards with teachers testing them in their
work. The feedback we received from them, and other experts,
was positive beyond our highest hopes. Here is some of the
value our product is seen to create:
• It makes a subject that is hard to grasp, concrete and fun.
• It gives confidence in working with the subject of
innovation and entrepreneurship.
• It gives teachers the opportunity to prepare their lessons,
long into the future, in short time.
• It provides clear overview and understanding of a design
process to adults and children

ANNA
My biggest challenge this year was “the void” and 1st trimester.
My biggest surprise this year was to collaborate with another
Kaospilot
I am most proud of our resilience when NO ONE understood our
plans.
I discovered that I am good at keeping an open mind.
I need to work on positivity and self belief.
I dream about creating cool products and great working
relationships.

So what now?

The cards will be out on the market this summer and are a
“must-buy” for anyone working with, or interested in, design
processes and creative work. We already have a thousand ideas
for new versions of the product and add-ons to it, but before
we start on those we both have babies to give birth to.
In the future, we would love to work further through the
approach of Design Thinking and user centered design. We
have seen the value and fun in it, and how investing time in
research can save you a lot of time, work and resources when it
comes to producing a solution that has real value for the user.

Anna Katrín

Henriette Juel Olsen

Þórarinsdóttir

hjo@kaospilot.dk

akt@kaospilot.dk

ideide.dk

ideide.dk
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TOPIA

H ilmar G u ð j ó nsson

B.O.M: Bank Of Materials

I took part in creating platform
for bridging the industrial
and the creative. How to utilise
waste materials from industry
productions within explorative
art work and design work?
With a gathering of artists and creators we work on excess material
from companies, create artwork and products. We keep a strong
relation to the material producers and communicate back to them
what the artists and designers found using their materials.

THE STORY

My final project has taken me for a hell of a ride, physically and
mentally, philosophically and literally (if one can set these two as
opposites). Through the ups and downs and from one field of work
to another as I try and follow my guiding star: “How do I create
stronger opportunities for my self and other artists/creators in
regards to working effectively and exhibiting powerfully?”
Building on that the initial lift off for my final project set me in
the direction of working with my heartfelt strong believe that
the value within the process of art creation was just as important
to showcase as the finished art pieces. Through both academic
and action-based research, I found it as a necessity to display the
incredible journey artists and creators go trough instead of only
displaying snapshots of a final destination.
Communicating creations of art with that sort of a processbased mind-set, I believe creates a stronger connection between
the creator and the one who experiences or the “user” for a
lack of better word. The ability to relate to artistic work for the
experiencer is vital in today’s turmoil and (in my believe) to
controversial world of modern art. Creations of art should however
never have to suffer for the sake of being “easily understood” or
being “more relatable.”
Artist should never compromise towards that, because art that is

created honestly, personally and with vulnerability is an extension
of the artist’s soul, visual visions, thoughts and opinions. That
kind of art is what inspires, fascinates and moves the viewer.
Experiencing that kind of art is a deep conversation between the
artist and the viewer, a communication that goes over and beyond
what words alone can communicate.
Therefore I see the process of communication and documentation
as the answer to deliver stronger artistic experiences for viewers
without compromising integrity.
Synthesising these constituent elements of thoughts into a project
allot of actions have been taken. B.O.M is in a way only a fraction
of my final project, but trough intense work of creating artistic
experiences, curating exhibitions and producing visual instillations
the B.O.M collaboration idea came to me in the beginning of
March. For me it serves as the answer to my guiding star in some
ways a guiding star on an even wider scale.

PROJECT PROCESS

B.O.M is a concept build around a few clear needs from two very
different target groups. The target groups range widely but within
the project they are identified as Creators and Material producers
1.

The Creators or artisans are continuously on the look out
for cheep workspaces, materials to work with and places to
exhibit. Whether you identify yourself as an artist, designer,
architect or sound engineer these seem to be the obstacles.
2. The Material Producers or production companies need to
release and get rid of excess material. Which most commonly
is done in an expensive and an un-environmental friendly
way. Production companies also seek material research and
inspiration for development of new products. Within the
B.O.M concept we see that a community based collaboration
platform between these two parties should emphasise both
parties gains and minimise their pains.
The B.O.M design in its simplest explanation sounds like this:
1. The Material producers donate excess material into a lablike space. The creators with the ability and the freedom to
create and experiment with aforementioned excess materials

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produce and execute their works.
2. Collaborative exhibitions are executed from the works
based on the excess materials. From the lab-like space
creations stream, creations that feed into the public;
artwork, movies, music, design or tools.
3. Documenting with the focus on the process behind
the creation gets communicated back to the Material
Producers feeding the donating companies with an un
direction based material research and inspiration.

My biggest challenge this year was internal and external
expectations
My biggest surprise this year was living in Aarhus
I am most proud of being where I am
I discovered that I am good at making friends, not colleagues
or partners but friends
I need to work on honesty continuously

NOW WHAT?

I dream about creating more, more, more

In the days yet to come I will work with establishing and leading
the B.O.M project trough its first year, serving as a process
leader and an exhibition curator.
I will continue to create artistic experiences by curating
exhibitions, project leading different initiatives in Iceland and
Denmark. Creating events and exhibiting my own artwork,
keep working on live visual instillations in collaboration
with musical artists and use photography as means for
communication and art.

Hilmar Guðjónsson
hilmar@kaospilot.dk

I’m staying interested and open for future adventures and rapid
project executions within the field of art and creations

Exploration of sustainable
event management and how
music festivals can be a
platform for positive change
For my final project, I wanted to combine my professional
experience in the music industry and learning from Kaospilot
with a field new to me: sustainability. Being a music festival
fanatic - both for work and play - I was curious to see how festivals
could be a platform for positive change. I had recently executed
a project with AfrikaBurn festival where I worked with social
responsibility and cultural sustainability in the context of a festival.
The experience left me feeling inspired and eager for more of the
same. I therefore started researching sustainability when beginning
the process of scoping my final project, eventually narrowing down
to focus on environmental sustainability. I already knew that music
festivals typically leave an environmental footprint, but started
looking more closely at the actual damage. Somewhat shocking,
I realized that the negative impact really is enormous. Events of
this size use huge amounts of resources, send out unthinkable
emissions and generate mountains of waste. I couldn’t imagine
being a contributing factor any longer but still wanted to work with
music festivals. This led to my final project being the question of
how to change this through an exploration of sustainable event
management.
The project had two layers: One was on a general yet deep level,
with me diving into the subject of sustainable event management
and the field of sustainability with case studies, prototypes,
extensive research, reading, and reaching out to experts in the
field. The other layer saw me partnering with Global Inheritance,
a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles that have paved
the way for creative programs highlighting environmental
sustainability issues at music festivals. The aim was for me to gain

first-hand experience and insights into this new field, as well as
deepening my skillset as a project leader within my chosen context
of music festivals. Global Inheritance keep plenty of balls in the
air at the same time, which gave me an opportunity to get a deep
understanding of the different approaches and initiatives one can
take to raise awareness on the subject of sustainability. The biggest
program I worked on with them was developing and executing all
the sustainability projects at Coachella festival, one of the leading
music festivals in the world. Also my main case study of the year,
the Coachella program was centered around playful initiatives
aimed at inspiring festival goers to take action on waste, energy
and transport issues and rethink their daily habits.
Throughout my journey I have uncovered different ways in which
to ensure a sustainable future for events. What I regard as my
most important learning is that it all starts with the will to take a
first step. This will comes from within a person - so how can it be
encouraged and nurtured? It is a challenge, because it forces us
to question our very values and way of living. That is no easy task
- both when asking oneself, and when asking someone else. But
no matter how uncomfortable the subject is I believe we need to
address it. We should stop ignoring, denying and being afraid of
what’s happening to our world, and start accepting responsibility
for it and working towards bettering it. In short, we need to start
putting sustainability at the core of everything we do. Imagine a
world where everybody does their part, be it carpooling, recycling,
buying less, reusing more, et cetera. I don’t know about you, but
that sounds damn good to me.
For my part and future path, I now have a lens that can’t be shaken
and plan on using it moving forward, to the advantage of both our
planet and myself. I want to continue working with my passion for
music through project management, but from now on I’m bringing
a new mindset and incorporating sustainable solutions wherever
possible. I encourage you to do the same.

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My biggest challenge this year was balance.
My biggest surprise this year was rain in California!
I am most proud of diving into the unknown.
I discovered that I am good at lots of things!
I need to work on actively seeking inspiration.
I dream about creating a sustainable future.

If you ever will get a tattoo
from me or work with me..
My only guarantees are:
No straight lines.
No perfect circles.
The outcome will not look like
the sketch.
The mark I will leave on you is
going to be permanent.
You will be satisfied.
The best way to try out your
skills is by creating something.
Through the project, I
developed and cultivated my
craft as a kaospilot by using a
hands on approach in the field
of event making.
THE CONCEPT

When society set the frames of what the norm is there will always
be a counter polar to maintain the balance.
Prohibitions and regulations will only boost creativity on the
opposite end.
My question is; how can we create interesting and meaningful
events by mixing for example: art, politics, underground and the
commercial?
My concept has been the journey exploring the different aspects
of an event, creating a platform to work from and to establish my

place on the market.
Instead of creating a business plan, stating a vision and mission, I
have started working.
Now I just need to finish school so I can get to work.

MY PROCESS

With my chameleon like adaptability I can infiltrate any possible
environment and become a part of it.
I have a need for contrasts in my life and have explored this by
rapid prototyping all possible different aspects of what an event is
and what different approaches you can take to one.
The event can be a stage of performance where systems need to
be in place and permits need to be in order, or a place of creation
where the frames are loose and anything can happen.
Working with events has only been the start, I now have a platform
to work from and a network providing me with opportunities.
This has been a birth of a organic organism that constantly evolves
it adapt to its surrounding and moves towards opportunities and
attraction.
I am fueled by collaborations, creativity and playfulness but
become immobilised without a clear goal.

PLATFORM - BLODARNAS KNIVHUS

A collective of friends that started at the age of five as a secret
club.
We later in life got a sponsorship from Nudie Jeans exchanging
stories for denim.
We keep the spirit of the secret club alive by hosting semi secret
events where everyone is welcome, if they can find it ;)
Join us on our never ending treasure hunt!

WHAT’S NEXT?

After this exhibition I’m hosting the after party.
Swing by and lets have a dance!
School has been fun but I feel I need a brake and some fresh air.
I’ll use the summer to fix my boat and then sail to the Caribbean!
Contact me if you want to join!

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FIN A L P R OJ EC TS 20 16

My biggest challenge this year was not to run
My biggest surprise this year was writing a report can be fun
I am most proud of I walk the walk (not just the talk the talk)
I discovered that I am good at almost everything I try
I need to work on being humble
I dream about creating all the time (Music)

Kristoffer Henriksson
Krh@kaospilot.dk
www.blodarnasknivhus.com

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TOPIA

I N G ibjörg F errer

Kaffibarþjónafélagið –
The Barista association

How can we bring people in the
coffee industry together and
eventually create a stronger
community?
How can I create an association
that people want to participate
in creating and avoid
overworking them?
I’ve been working in the coffee industry since 2006. I have been a
barista, a coach and a judge at competitions.
When I entered Kaospilot, I thought that I would try my best to
get rid of my coffee self, or at least not make it my life’s work.
During my third year, I came back to Iceland and noticed that
the coffee community had become much less active than before.
Before, when I was working in the field, there was a Barista
Guild that hosted events and served as a platform for baristas to
network. The Barista Guild discontinued in 2014, leaving a big gap
in the community, which led to baristas becoming strangers to
each other.
I saw that this could be a great opportunity to combine what I had
learned both at Kaospilot and from the coffee industry. Therefore
I discarded the idea that this 3rd year would define my work in the
future. Instead I decided that my final project would be to revive
the Guild but change its structure and ways.
Now, it is an association called Kaffibarþjónafélagið(translated:
The Barista association). The mission of Kaffibarþjónafélagið is
to strengthen and elevate the barista community. Its vision is to
have a strong and inclusive barista community in Iceland. It aims
to be the best platform for the community to come together
and make improvements. In order to reach that goal I will offer

events such as competitions. I also suggest educational events, and
opportunities to strengthen the skills of baristas. My aim is that
people will have both pleasure and professional gain.

What has happened?

I set up three different prototypes for such events in order to
learn and fail faster. The events were a Cup tasting event, a Latte
Art Throwdown and a Show and Tell: introduction to the Icelandic
barista and brewers champions’ routines. I have collaborated with
various people from the coffee community on each event and
chosen those collaborators because of the nature of the event.
The collaborations have been mainly with cafés that can offer the
venue and resources to execute each and every event.
The greatest thing about this project has been people’s willingness
to help and engage with the events. They are the people who
share Kaffibarþjónafélagið’s vision and have a common interest
in strengthening the barista community. I’ve seen that this
concept is very valuable to the people who have attended. I strive
for spreading this out to more people within the near fields,
e.g. bartenders and chefs, so that we can engage more people
interested in coffee.

Up Next

I want to continue this work and project after I’ve graduated
because it is so close to my heart. My plan is to work on it part
time for the next year and my hope is that I can engage more
people in the project planning, so that Kaffibarþjónafélagið doesn’t
become dependent on me.
As for the events, it depends on who’ll join our team. We have
some plans, e.g. this summer we want to have an Espresso Martini
competition where bartenders and baristas can meet and compete.
This autumn we will have a similar competition, this time in Irish
coffee. This could be a natural sequel. Let’s see where the summer
will take us.

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My biggest challenge this year was finding my dream
My biggest surprise this year was all the possibilities in
Iceland
I am most proud of smiling through the difficulties
I discovered that I am good at connecting with people
I need to work on procrastination
I dream about creating change

Ingibjรถrg Ferrer
ferrer@kaospilot.dk
Linkedin: ingibjorgferrer

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TOPIA

L udvig S örhus

The change of power

What would happen if the people
of the world had access to the
necessities to shape their lives?
Say you could create your own
renewable energy from waste.
This is what I and my company
are now working on in South
Africa.
From the outside of today most countries pride themselves in
being democratic countries serving the people. When that surface
is being scratched, what is unveiled is a web of systems that are
taking the power from the unprivileged and harnessed by the
mighty few. Corrupt governments, structural racism, economic
agreements favoring large industries with their histories in feudal
systems to name a few. An example can be the current oil war
where the petroleum producing states are at financial war with the
price of crude oil - where the affected poor stands without position
of affecting the outcome.
Our company EcoCarbon wants to flip this up side down. By
producing our own energy we separate ourselves from a part of the
wild carousel of world economics of today - securing the essentials
we need to live fulfilling lives in tune with nature.

THE CONCEPT

Our company with its collaborators has developed a concept that
creates decentralized energy from waste. Renewable and CO2
negative. The company is based in South Africa and what we do is
the following:
Carbon based waste materials such as wood, manure, plastic, tires,
organic waste, food waste etc. is burned in our gasification reactor.
The syngas produced is powering a generator producing electricity
with little to none emissions. A part of the carbon is put through
a second process where it acts like a catalyst with water - creating
hydrogen. When hydrogen is burnt with oxygen the only outcome
is water. With these two processes you get up to 60,000 times

the energy value out of the waste. The excess carbon is then sold
or donated to farmers and gardeners to put in the soil as a soil
amendment. In the ground the carbon acts like a sponge due to
its highly porous structure - increasing water holding capacity and
preventing nutrients from leaching. Each kilogram of carbon put
in the soil is the equivalent of 3.3 kg of CO2 sequestered from the
atmosphere - making the whole process CO2 negative.
Through our concept we are tackling the big five of the problems
the world are facing today - energy, water, food, waste and climate
change.

THE PROCESS

From my personal search of finding an entry of working with the
fundamental systems that are shaping our societies I found from
serendipity my team. By throwing myself into the unknown and
going to a farm in distant South Africa the project and concept
emerged through discussions, prototypes and beliefs. We change
our approach and our narrative as we learn more from people that
we reach out to. Starting from the local and thinking of the global.

COLLABORATORS

EcoCarbon consists of three core members:
• Ludvig Sörhus - kaospilot
• Jan Ritter – Master of Science, Bio-based products
• Jacob Paul Bussman - Master of Science, Environmental
Development.
Our key collaborators are:
• Luke Boshier, who runs the farm KoudeVlakte - a community
of interdependent people working towards solutions for a
sustainable world.
• Hennie Van Aardt - South African engineer with over 40
years of engineering experience of which 20 have been
dedicated to gasification and waste-to-energy solutions.
Outside of the core collaborators many people fight our cause investors, farmers, environmentalists and much more.

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NEXT STEPS

My biggest challenge this year was believing in myself when
my capabilities did not seem enough

Before mid 2016 we aim to have our first commercial
prototype up and running. This will produce electricity for a
chicken farm from the manure of the animals.
We aim to set up projects that can process 60 tons of waste
and produce electricity in the scale of 500 KW each third
month.
Establish the market of our biochar.
As these milestones have been met - we hope that the
capacity and possibilities will be evident to the government and
policy makers around the globe - to aid us taking this to the
next step of giving power to the powerless and creating the
infrastructure that is needed for the global conscious level to
flourish.

My biggest realization this year was that there is so much
help and encouragement out there if you dare to ask for it
I am most proud of letting go of my ego - making the project
and the bigger cause more important than my personal pride
I discovered that I am good at not giving up and committing
to the unknown
I need to work on that great things come from small steps
I dream about creating a contribution to the necessary
infrastructure for the world to develop to the next level of
equality and progression

Connecting restaurants with
communities of people who wish
to learn how to cook

is not difficult to create. Many people are deprived of this feeling
as no one provided it to them. Nowadays, parents don’t have the
time or the passion to cook and teach their kids how to cook, and
the food and lectures in school are subpar. Co-cooking is here to
fill this gap.

THE STORY

The food scene, in Oslo, is rather schizophrenic. On the one
hand, people have a tendency not to be very willing to trying new
foods, and are interested in returning to the roots of cooking,
while on the other it has never been so much frozen, prepared and
take away options. Meanwhile the restaurants are pretty much
competing on the prices of club sandwich and Caesar salads. Cocooking is here to contribute to revitalising Oslo’s food culture and
build community at the same time.

Through a collaborative cooking event we are blending
gastronomy, teaching and experience.
You can say that we are teaching gastronomy through experience.
It is a cross between a cooking course and a restaurant. A
trained chef sets a delicious and challenging menu, we provide a
setting with all the equipment, high quality ingredients, and an
atmosphere that make the guest feel comfortable to learn and
make mistakes. It is up to the guests to cook the meal. BUT! The
chef is there to explain, teach and help.
Community and learning lie at the core of the concept and that is
what we have been testing and trying out.
Also, we are currently developing concept meant for promoting
team building, for companies and organizations, and we are really
keen on collaborating with educations.
Co-cooking targets young adults. The value is: people learn how
to cook and get immersed infood culture, they meet new people
(which is a big need in Oslo, I have realized), they get to eat really
good food and they get to try something outside of their everyday
routines.
My motivation has been my love of food. I want other people to
experience the same feeling of joy and appreciation, and I know it

THE PROCESS

The whole project started with the idea that my good friend Bo
and I had been playing with for a while: opening a restaurant
togehter. The idea faced a setback since Bo began to “try to
become an adult” meaning he is getting married and has to pay
mortgage, he wasn’t that keen on standing in a kitchen for 18
hours a day for a shitty salary. Suddenly, our dream had no chef
making it impossible to open a restaurant.
One day, I found myself in the shower with a cup of coffee doing
some serious thinking. How can you open a restaurant without a
chef? Who will do the cooking? THE CUSTOMERS? Remember
Kramer from Seinfeld who wanted to open a pizza place where you
could make your own pie? Brilliant!
That is where the Co-Cooking idea was born. A space where the
customer could connect with the process, the production, the

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meat and also the farmer, brewer, butcher - whomever.

My biggest challenge this year was to keep my focus

I have been collaborating with close friends of mine: a chef,
a photographer, a creative writer/hobby chef and an MBA
student. Additionally, I have developed a large network, within
the food scene in Oslo: chefs, farmers, brew masters, mentors,
entrepreneurs and creative thinkers. Their input and support
has been valuable!

My biggest surprise this year was the state of the nation food
wise
I am most proud of my collaborators
I discovered that I am good at teaching
I need to work on my impatience

I was really surprised of how little the general public knows
about food and cooking. Also, it is shocking to really see how
much food is pre-made, in the grocery stores. The challenging
part, I have to say, has been to stay focused and also to find
time with my collaborators who have had other commitments.

I dream about creating a better food culture

The project is a hydra! It keeps developing on its own.
I have really found my place and I know what I want to
continue to work with, and what I can contribute with to the
world.

Christoffer Lindblom
christoffer.lindblom@kaospilot.dk

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next?

I want to set up Co-cooking in a permanent space and I want
to develop a course for middle schools.

facebook.com/projectsupperclub

51

KAO SP I LOT T EAM 2 0

TOPIA

M arie P r æ st S chlosser

KVAN

Being disabled doesn’t mean you
lack something. It is rather that
the society is organized in a
way that is not made to best suit
your way of being.
KVAN

What impressions impact you the most when you meet a new
person? What is the list of headlines you make while shaking
their hand? Gender, age, outfit, voice, eye and hair colour and
so forth, are all impressions you make. All of them are parts in
the puzzle you put together when meeting a new person. People
with disabilities often experience that their disability become the
overarching puzzle piece that people remember. KVAN wants to
create possibilities for expressing nuances of personality through
clothing, and by that open up to interaction between the abled
bodied, and disabled.
KVAN is a design company that wants to make fashion clothes
accessible for everyone. It is built upon the observation that people
with physical disabilities do not have the same choices as those

without disabilities when choosing outfits – as the commercial
fashion is targeted and made for the standing, and abled-bodied
population.
KVAN believes that by making a common touch point between
the abled, and the disabled, the understanding, and curiosity
towards each other will grow. It might not save the world with a
jacket that fits you, but it might be a better conversation starter
than questions about disability.
The fields I have been working in during this project have been far
more than the area of fashion. KVAN has unfolded to also be a
social mission.

The Process

KVAN works with a 360 degree approach to their customer
group. This means that throughout the project period we have
been in contact with anthropologists, and ethnologists in order
to not just understand the target group with focus on the
fashion aspect, but to understand the target group as a complete
customer segment. We have sparred our ideas with potential
customers, to keep and steer our approach on track.
During this year, I have experienced the sensation of my brain
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growing, and my heart feeling warmer the more I unfolded this
rather undiscovered area. The people I have reached out to,
have responded with an honesty you don’t expect from total
strangers, and I have discovered that me and my team are on a
track that is not only new to the design scene in Denmark, but
also the world. The community of supporters we have created
around KVAN has been of great value, and added nuances
to the complexity we are trying to unfold. The network of
professionals we have established shows that there is great
interest in the field of the good living for people with physical
disabilities, but really a lack of knowledge on this new customer
segment.

My biggest challenge this year was working within the two
frames of school project and start-up company

During this project period I came to the understanding that
KVAN can do better by not being a brand in itself. The
original idea was to create an independent commercial fashion
brand, but we tweaked the project when we gathered more
information from the target group. Over the coming period
KVAN will establish itself as a design company providing
ideas, solutions, and guidance to existing brands – but not
produce products in own name. KVAN will continue gathering
knowledge and experts to its team, and by that establish
themselves as a knowledge centre, working towards the goal of
making fashion accessible to everyone.

I dream about creating a society with less apprehensive and
more curious relations between people.

My biggest surprise this year was if you ask people for help
you will get a YES more often then a NO
I am most proud of the development of the project cocreated in the brilliant team of KVAN
I discovered that I am good at attract interesting people to
the project
I need to work on finding capital for the project.

Imagine if there were a
methodology for addressing
big social challenges such
as climate change, outdated
educational systems and food
system. This led me to start a
company where we test out
approaches to addressing
complex challenges in new and
effective ways.
Six months ago, I teamed up with my partner Bonnie Hvillum and
we started researching and developing new responses to the big
challenges of our generation. On top of that, we have established
collaborations to test out our approach, both on the drawing board
and implementing it, in the real world, at various scales.

CONCEPT

How can we contribute with an approach that addresses and solves
complex social challenges?
Our answer to this is our newly founded company, Social Design
Lab.
We set up social laboratories where we address complex social
challenges. We invite communities and organizations to learn,
experiment and implement solutions. We do this by engaging
and connecting the stakeholders, involved with given challenge,
so that we can identify and the strongest evidence-based
solutions. A lab is a container that makes this possible. We act as
both project managers and process designers, where we create
learning processes that make it possible for the diverse group of
stakeholders to break old patterns and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;business as usualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; habits,
and instead think about the challenge in new ways, and develop

innovative solutions.
When forming a social lab we believe that in order for the
communities to be able to innovate, we need to gather a team that
truly represents the diversity of the social system. Each member
of the system holds both part of the contribution to the challenge
and also part of the solution.
There are so many great initiatives out there but often they only
address the symptoms. Often what are sold as solution, are only
making our problem worse, and pushing us towards collapse. This
is why we believe that labs are so important. They call for us to
learn together, look deeper into the problems that we face, and to
experiment how to create truly effective solutions.
Perseverance has been key throughout the last half year. This
is due to the level of uncertainty, that characterizes this kind of
work, matched with expectations from many to have predictable
and replicable results. On top of that, Bonnie and I have been
pushing to work in fields and sectors that are all dominated by
experts who tend to favour the traditional approach to solving
problems. Despite these obstacles, we find ourselves, again and
again, believing in the relations we build and the positive responses
our work has received. It encourages us to keep going!

COLLABORATORS

We are working with a small journalist organization on verifying
their wish to launch a new platform for social entrepreneurship on
the topics environmental and technological advancements.
We are creating workshops for all the employees of a medium
sized organization. Where we get to practice our partnership,
use our methods for smaller scale challenges and lead 200-300
people through our methods.
We started a larger lab for the educational system of Denmark to
address its challenges. Ministers, majors, principals, teachers and
kids are engaged to look at their common challenges.
We are establishing small labs with a Danish telecommunications
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company for schools. Schools get to engage their students in
solving the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenges and the telecommunications
company can use the material for the marketing of their
campaign.

My biggest challenge this year has been communicating
social and environmental value in a world that mostly values
financial capital.
My biggest surprise this year was when people did not believe
that what we wanted to do could be done, I found myself
believing in the importance of my work even more.

FUTURE

Having talked with many different people and tested it out
in various ways, we have confirmed that there is a need for
our work and this has made us continue with uncovering new
responses to complex challenges.

I am most proud of my partnership and the company.
I discovered that I am good at seeing the best in everyone
and the opportunities in the smallest of things.

Next steps:
Continuing the collaborations working on everything from
using our concept as a research method to solving systems
challenges from one organization to the educational system.

I need to work on my confidence in myself.
I dream about creating globally recognized laboratories.

Expand and grow our relations. This is crucial to succeed with
the work we want to do.
Running and building a company where we can have all have
jobs, learn and develop our skills and methods and contribute
to positive social change, under one umbrella.

“We have multiplied our
possessions, but reduced our
values.
We talk too much, love too
seldom, and hate too often
We have learnt how to make a
living, but not a life.
We have added years to life, but
not life to years.
We’ve been all the way to the
moon and back
But have trouble crossing
the street to meet the new
neighbor.”
Extract from The paradox of our times by the Dalai Lama

This cannot be what we choose. Yet, mainstream culture is one
that promotes this paradox rather than the opposite. How did
we get here? Ontological design tells us that our mind creates a
reality that in return creates our mind. If we can build experiences
that disrupt the existing culture and our common sense, we can
give room for a new story to be told.
Within the cityscape of Stockholm I explored this paradox. The
journey led me to Everyday School, a community based startup

run by two successful entrepreneurs who both have changed path
in service of a different story, one that’s based on the value of
interdependence rather than of separation. Very soon I realized
they’re struggling with formulating what exactly it is they offer and
why it matters. Like many other organizations offering something
that’s neither tangible nor familiar to the market, their offer
cannot be communicated as a message on a billboard. This got me
interested in marketing and how it can be redefined to challenge
forces that keep us within the current story of separation.
Marketing is powerful because it reinforces a certain culture
and it’s everywhere. What differs enchantment marketing from
mainstream marketing is the aim to promote a more generative
culture and the organizations that are in service of it. Instead of
starting from the point of view of promoting a brand or product,
the starting premise is to create a valuable experience for the
target group, which aims to re-awaken our natural belonging to
the story of interdependence.
I define enchantment marketing as marketing based on the
following five principles:
1. Create experiences that are transformational rather than
transactional
2. Provoke rather than promote
3. Invite rather than persuade
4. Share don’t sell
5. Show don’t tell
When Everyday School was offered a booth at the Stockholm
University student fair, where companies meet students to
promote what they’re doing, I was assigned to lead the marketing
campaign. Applying the above principles, we designed our
campaign around the intention to provide a transformational
experience relevant for the SU students. Instead of promoting
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Everyday School, we invited them into a space of exploration
where they were challenged to reflect about what’s important
to them. 25% of the crowd participated in our 10 min long
experience. We didn’t have free stuff nor fancy roll-ups. What
made us stand out was to do exactly the opposite of what other
companies were doing. While the students were expecting to
be sold something, they instead participated in a meaningful
experience for themselves.

My biggest challenge this year was a lack of sunlight
My biggest surprise this year was sci-fi parody healing
I am most proud of buddhist, proud of nothing.
I discovered that I am good at formulating the intangible
I need to work on contextual humor

My pilot journey started within the field of cross-sector
collaboration, and has led me to marketing, something I’ve
never really been drawn to. Quoting Charles Eisenstein,
“When you’re in service of something that’s bigger than you,
you have to let go of control. You might struggle with periods
of uncertainty, not knowing how to get from where you are
to where you ought to be, but that what’s bigger than you
knows. So when you bow in full service to that, unexpected
opportunities will arise for you to act on your intention. It will
be on the edge of your courage, but it won’t past it.”

I dream about creating magic together

My next steps will be to further explore the relationship
between creative activism and enchantment marketing, and
how the latter could benefit organizations in service of a new
cultural shift, to share their story and the cause they’re in
service of.

Born poets
“How to become the best poetic leaders for
the world?”
We believe every human being is
born a poet. To us, a born poet is
a human being who dares to use
her or his creative potential to
create positive change in and
for the World.
In what way are you a born poet?
We are born poets, and as leaders of poetic processes, we design
and create room for people to open up their creative hearts
and make sure they stay open! We do that with facilitated
workshops or processes, we guide the humans we work with trough
conversations, exercises and happenings build on poetry for their
creative gain.
Today’s society has become extremely complex. We, as individuals,
communities and even entire nations, need to learn how to
generate possibilities and create new stories. In order to succeed
in this, we think that focusing on learning to how to open our
creative hearts, minds and spirits are essential.
Through poetic processes we want to develop the personal key
to continuous learning in life. We are especially in service of
communities in Denmark that want to create possibility for new
stories and learning, in their specific community. We experience
today, that danish communities holds the biggest transformational
potential in developing a more valuable and appreciative society
through learning.

What would a poetic process look like?

A poetic process starts, in the combination of two mind-sets.
• A systems thinking mind-set
• An artful creation mind-set

expert should tell them what to do! Therefore our poetic processes
are always co-created together with the people participating.
Artful creation is a paradigm and an approach that we have come
to discover is the foundation of Viktoria & Stinnes believes system
and background story.
Our shared background is found in the universe between
experimental art & traditional theatre production; so simple!
With these two mind-sets as a starting point, a poetic process
becomes an experience where both the essential need of the
participants and the imaginative - and sometimes provocative
- nature of art is closely connected. Through this strong
combination we can create a good disturbance in our life that can
lead to change.
The merge of the two mind-sets therefor don’t create a
completely systemic process and at the same time don’t create an
entirely artistic process; it becomes in its connectedness a poetic
process.

Our launch as experimental
researchers!

Stinne and Viktoria are people of great action.
We explore the value we want to create through experimental
learning: Basically, we try things out.
Through the development of our pilot project we have therefor put
an immense focus on testing our future service. Through this way
of working, we have found a lot of answers and also a lot of new
questions.
Our core question as experimental researchers has been.
• “How to be the best poetic leaders for the world?”
At this very moment in time, our exploration and tests have
revealed to us, the core of our method and the first crispy
elements in our Born Poet toolbox. Two core elements are.
• Sensuous data is the stories, incidents and glimpse of daily
life, we gather from the participant. Sensuous data is not
necessarily structured to begin with and it can hold a quality
of intuitive expression. The sensuous data will always be

Systems thinking is one of the core theories we learn at the
Kaospilot education & the basic principle of systemic thinking is;
that the system or the people you work with are always the ones
who holds the answer to their own questions or challenges. No
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shaped from the participant’s perspective; therefore the
data will always be highly relevant and present for the
people participating.

Our biggest challenge this year was building business with
your best friend <3
Our biggest surprise this year was how powerful and deep a
concept you can build, when you work with your best friend!

• Poetic/artistic mirroring is where we use the sensuous
data, to create poetic/artistic bits of mirrors. Here we
reflect back to our participants, an expression of the data
they have giving us. This is done in varies ways, through
use of poems, songs, transcriptions, sensuous stimulation
and theatre performances etc.

We are most proud of being experimental researchers, true
to our authentic selves, and having crafted a concept from
that.
We discovered that we are good at opening up peoples´
hearts for change with our poetic processes.

This gives the opportunity for organizations and communities
to experience how their needs and challenges can develop into
new poetic shapes and forms, for them to see themselves,
understand and learn in new ways.

We need to work on involving individuals who are not at all
like us in our business.
We dream of creating big scale value through the worldcitizens´ poetic potential.

Poetic Communities

In the near future we are giving birth to several new things –
both individually and together! The main adventure that we as
Born Poets are embarking on is to initiate our first process with
a community -a city in Jylland. This community is fighting for
its survival. We want to contribute to the learning journey of
this community; unfolding their stories, create new stories of
identity and join them for their resurrection.
We dream of engaging with many more communities in the
future and thereby, be part of changing impossible stories
into very possible stories of every life, creative change & born
poets!

What if we could unlock
our collective intelligence
gathered in the public sector?
What if we harvested the value
of commonly owned capital
hidden in our state-owned
institutions? Innovating a 250
year old democratic right - for
a democracy and liberty worth
its name!
I looked for something to work with in the core functions of
Swedish democracy. I early on discovered a timeless idea. Peter
Forsskål expressed it in his iconic pamphlet “Thoughts on Civil
Liberty” back in 1758:

“Finally, it is also an important right in a free society to be freely
allowed to contribute to society’s well- being. However, if that is
to occur, it must be possible for society’s state of affairs to become
known to everyone, and it must be possible for everyone to speak
his mind freely about it. Where this is lacking, liberty is not worth
its name.”
The text inspired a challenge to try to bring that vision of
transparency into life. In combination with my interest for open
source philosophy this fuelled an endless energy. For a good
purpose.
The Swedish constitution, specifically the Principle of Public
Access has been under siege for decades. The public sector has
decreased the quality of the duty to serve its owners, the citizens.
This has enabled an increasing, invisible corruption of the project
we call democracy. Although Sweden has low corruption, it
is getting harder to expose corruption. This is due to the legal

hollowing of our constitution.
The project started in South Africa. Corruption of democracy was
visible on a daily basis and a part of normative culture. I realised
that a powerful intervention in Sweden was to democratise the
access to public documents. I decided to prototype the idea.
So I applied for funding to VINNOVA, the Swedish Innovation
Agency. They granted the project a small budget. From thereon I
kept building on small initiatives, side projects and collaborations. I
researched through workshops, presentations, and interviews with
experts and users. With limited resources we have been able to set
up the platform for testing and public use.
My base for collaborations and activities is the non-profit
organisation Open Knowledge Sweden which is part of an
international network. We involve ourselves within partnerships
and networks which has proven to be a successful strategy.
Collaborations are key to our project, being an emergent and
iterative organisation.
I began to work on revitalising the Principle of Public Access,
internationally known as Freedom of Information. It is a
fundamental function to Swedish democracy and many others.
This brought me to the fields of experience design, technology
and co-creation. The result is a number of prototypes. The single
biggest prototype is the main concept.
My concept is a digital platform called FrågaStaten.se (Ask The
State). This solution is the first of a kind in 250 years of Swedish
society. It enables and helps citizens to request documents
from public sector in Sweden. They have the right to request
information from publicly funded bodies in Sweden. They have
the right to get answers. It is now easier to get documents from
authorities, counties, municipalities and municipal companies. This
platform is a manifestation of a democratic right.
Our project is a gift to the people. We hope to empower with
knowledge. We aim to challenge the approach of digitisation.
We also aim to challenge the current top-down approach to
transparency. I am hoping the platform will help to empower
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people to act. With information it can enable processes
for change. It can enable deeper learning about society.
It can empower with information as a source and tool for
entrepreneurship. It can enable co-creation by giving people a
tool for access, to understand where to contribute.

My biggest challenge this year was limiting my engagement

The biggest surprise was discovering this underutilised resource
and potential in society. Finding this treasure hidden in plain
sight. An enormous source for value creation! The largest
challenge have been how to hack the complexity of law to
enable the use of this. I have learnt that I get motivated by
complex projects with big challenges. I also learnt about myself
that I get intrigued by following a big vision. It allows me to be
creative when playing with systems throughout my mission!

I discovered that I am good at making things happen

My biggest surprise this year was travelling in time!
I am most proud of getting through this!

I need to work on being less pretentious!
I dream about creating systems with purpose

I hope users will request a large amount of public documents
using our platform. That can show why Sweden needs to
digitise. Why we need to strengthen our constitution. I dream
of the future where we use the value of public information.
Today we only experience a bit of value. This bit is Freedom of
the Press, which we all use, every day. If we want to be serious
about digitisation and democracy then we need to digitise the
core. As it looks right now I have a lot of fun possibilities with
this! I am also looking into how to improve food and energy
systems!

Mattias Axell
axell@kaospilot.dk
mattiasaxell.com

63

KAO SP I LOT T EAM 2 0

TOPIA

S tine T horsgaard K j ĂŚ r

NATURAGENTURET

Nature holds so many
suggestions on how to fix
man-made problems. As soon
as we open our door to nature
we have great potential
lying in front of our feet.
Naturagenturet is about nature
in-spired innovation for
sustainable change.
Have you ever thought about if you actually understand what
nature is and how it works?
How to get what we want and how to get it as quickly and cheaply
as possible, have been driving forces behind most of our knowledge
of how natural systems work. Often natural systems are broken down for the purpose of quick and cheap production. Take
timber, water or minerals for instance: these materials are often
manipulated for short-term gain, damaging the natural ecosystem
that they are part of. I believe this to be a big shame.

NaturAgenturet

Do you know why a duck is never wet when it come out of the
water?
Questions like this sparks my curiosity and has been part of why I
have spent my third year at Kaospilot creating NaturAgenturet - a

multidisciplinary company facilitating nature inspired innovation.
I wanted to awaken curiosity and inspire others to learn from the
awesome capacities of nature. Together with biologist Nanna
Johanne Aude I created NaturAgenturet to see if it was possible
for us to make sustainability and innovation more tangible
and graspable. Our targets are companies and organisations in
Denmark and our work-methods are inspired by nature.
Nature holds so many suggestions on how to fix man-made
problems. Termites can, for example, teach us how to create
natural ventilation in buildings while ants can inspire new
management structures. As soon as we open our door to nature we
have great potential lying in front of our feet.

Growing

I began my third year exploring the possibilities of working with
biomimicry in Denmark. I started investigating what change it
could create for biologist and designers. Amazingly biomimicry
turned out to be a discipline not focusing only on biologist and
designer, but a discipline that could help many people become
ecologically conscious.
Through my work I have started to learn the gift of patience.
A decision doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always have to happen immediately, and
sometimes the best thing to do is to take a break. It has also been
wonderful to experience the impact a long-term partnership has
had on me. To work with a dear friend, with a working culture
of honesty, laughter and flexibility, enabled me to get out of
my comfort zone and learn even more. We have been able to
support each other through tough times and bring passion into our

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workflow to keep following our vision for a sustainable future.

My biggest challenge this year was explaining biomimicry

Getting used to the thought of being a female entrepreneur
has been very interesting. I’m still learning what it means to be
a female entrepreneur and from experiences like showing up as
two women at a male dominated conference. I’m learning what
it means for our branding strategy to be two women. And I’m
also learning how awesome it is to be a female entrepreneur.

My biggest surprise this year was how creative natural
science is
I am most proud of our company, NaturAgenturet
I discovered that I am good at being patient
I need to work on branding myself

Blooming

I dream about creating a sustainable change

We have created NaturAgenturet because we are ecologically
conscious and we aim to create a space for others to make
conscious choices, and follow the biomimicry movement! We
have discovered that it is possible to challenge the mindsets
of leaders and employees. It is possible to help them become
more ecologically conscious. I truly hope that companies and
organisations continue to see the potential in working with
nature inspired innovation and that it can result in us making a
living out of our vision.

Stine Thorsgaard Kjær

At the moment, our future looks bright with jobs coming up in
June, but we also know that they need to keep coming for us
to create a real change.
So, “real world” bring it on.

stinetk@gmail.com
naturagenturet@gmail.com
www.naturagenturet.dk
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TOPIA

M a x S . L aurit z en

WE DON’T NEED BREATHING SPACE, WE NEED
LEADERSHIP!

When the Swedish Prime Minister
closed the borders for
refugees with the motivation
that we need breathing space,
it sent a clear message that
something is not working. What
is really needed is a better way
to work as a society when faced
with disruptive and complex
challenges. My final year
project has been in service of
identifying and building the
leadership capacity needed to
do that.
When the so called ”refugee crisis” hit Sweden, I was in Boston
on an international gathering of Theory U practitioners. Theory
U is an awareness-based social technology promoting the shift
from ego to eco. An ego-awareness is limited to the self, be it
an individual or an organisation. All actions will be made out of
self-interest, due to lack of seeing and understanding the bigger
picture. An eco awareness means seeing and understanding your
role in a larger eco-system and what actions can benefit the
system as a whole. I returned to Stockholm, inspired to be in
service of this shift on a local level.
At that time more than 10,000 people a month applied for
asylum in Sweden, which was more than the welfare system could
handle. The inability to handle the new reality has been a call for
innovation and change within many areas of the public sector. I
have been witnessing this on a municipal level where people get
employed with new job descriptions focusing on mobilizing the

local community instead of serving it.
I supported the civic society coordinator of Ekerö Municipality
by facilitating a workshop for engaged citizens. Over 60 people
showed up with huge enthusiasm and after getting to know each
other they self organized into groups working with concrete
initiatives. The coordinator’s role became to support the newly
formed groups by providing them a platform to meet, collaborate
and reach out.
This way of leading social change shows great potential. The
relatively small investment of organizing the workshop and to
leading the platform lead to not only 16 social initiatives but
also empowered citizens and a stronger community. The people
engaged in the initiatives are now active citizens creating the
change they want to see in their community instead of passive
consumers of welfare services.
Active citizenship doesn’t necessary mean volunteering. It can as
well be innovating new solutions or starting new initiatives. This
can - and should - also involve the organisation where the citizens
work. Instead of a top down leadership, where the organisation
is asked to contribute with services or support, the bottom up
leadership is empowering the individuals leading the organisation
to take initiative using their organisation as a resource and vehicle
for change.
I recently found my vehicle for change: THREAD, an
entrepreneurial value driven consultancy, providing CEO coaching
and leadership training for companies who want to walk their talk.
My job there, and my final year concept, is to design a leadership
program that will focus on training the capacity needed to a)
understand and embrace the role you play in a larger system of
stakeholders b) enable and mobilize active citizenship within the
system you are a part of. I’m inspired by Theory U, but also by an
earlier Kaospilot initiative that became a global movement: 100 in
a Day.
100 in a Day is a festival in active citizenships. The leadership team
behind the festival is setting a vision (100+ initiatives taking place
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in the city at a given date), then providing a supportive and
enabling platform for the initiatives to take place. The citizens
need to do all the work by themselves, including marketing and
financing their initiatives. Genius.

My biggest challenge this year was narrowing down
My biggest surprise this year was employment at THREAD
I am most proud of enabling citizen engagement

As Morpheus says in the movie The Matrix: ”There is a
difference in knowing the path and walking the path”. Our way
of walking the path is by arranging two community festivals
ourselves. The first one, Sollentuna Day, will take place on the
21st of May and the other one in the beginning of September.
The leadership program that hopefully will kick off spring 2017,
will also be based on practical experience. The students will
either have to run an initiative at their work or in their local
community as a part of their training.

I discovered that I am good at process facilitation.
I need to work on fighting perfectionism
I dream about creating community of change-makers

Now, what has this to do with the ”refugee crises” in Sweden?
The name is unfortunately misleading. The amount of
refugees led to a crisis within the Swedish welfare system
(actually, the whole European Union). Every crisis comes
with an opportunity and our opportunity is to create a more
collaborative and co-creative society through leadership that
encourages active citizenship.

Which values does craft bring
to people? And can we use craft
as a method for bringing people
together?
According to the UNHCR, during June 2015, 1 out of every
122 people on earth was either a refugee, internally displaced or
seeking asylum abroad.1 And during that year, the number of
asylum seekers in Sweden doubled from the year before; a change
the Swedish system was not prepared for.
During the fall and winter of 2015/2016, many Swedes stepped
up and provided shelter, food, legal advice and more to the people
who had travelled for so long and so far to get to the dark cold
country up north.
And when it was time for us to step up and step out into the World
beyond the walls of the Kaospilot school, for our third year final
project, I knew I wanted to work within this field.
I partnered up with Slöjd Stockholm working from the hypothesis
that craft could be used as a method to bring people together. This
project gave me an opportunity to re-connect with an organisation
I had been in contact with as a craft-nerdy child, and to work from
my core values of solidarity and always having people in centre.

We started our work in December exploring the value craft can
provide, and the needs existing at asylum centres in Stockholm.
We believed that craft activities would both provide a creative
outlet for the people waiting in the asylum system, as well as being
a foundation for people to come together.
By working fast; researching, developing and executing at the
same time, we engaged over 300 people in 20 different craft
events all around Stockholm, and managed to provide a creative
outlet as well as build new personal relations. And if there is one
thing this project has made me realise, it is that value is a word that
gets most of its meaning in the interaction between people. We’ve
seen a lot of knitting, personal growth, joy and laughter. In asylum
seekers, youth leaders, volunteers and pedagogues alike.
One of our biggest struggles has also been one of the most
interesting parts of the project: working in a completely new
context that neither I, Slöjd Stockholm nor Sweden have ever
been in before. This has meant that there has been room for
experimentation and exploration. It has also meant that things
are in constant fluctuation. New laws being passed suddenly has
tremendous effect, at once, on a personal level. And the centres
we were working with a month ago, are no longer in existence.
But I move from this project with a certainty in mind. That we all
together created something that grew with us. And that slöjdiska
(the language of craft) truly is universal.

1. According to UNHCR

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My biggest challenge this year was keeping myself grounded
My biggest surprise this year was that winter actually
becomes spring in the end
I am most proud of all the people I have met and have seen
develop
I discovered that I am good at working from my core values
and my gut feeling
I need to work on being vulnerable
I dream about creating spaces where people can grow
together

Stina Scott
sts@kaospilot.dk
https://dk.linkedin.com/in/stinascott

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TOPIA

T homas P ersson

Sjællandsk Muld

A vibrant eco-village that
combines modern life with
ambitious sustainable solutions.
Have you ever tried peeing your pants? Remember that special
feeling of “aaah” quickly turning into “damn!” when realizing this
wasn’t the best solution to your problem?
This dilemma became a great inspiration to the concept I’ve been
aiming to develop through my last days on this seriously weird,
fucked up and forever-in-my-heart absolutely lovely place we call
the Kaospilot school.
WHY is it that we keep constructing and producing from materials
that are extremely costly and resource consuming to generate and
degenerate?
And why is it that households are not benefiting from all the
renewable energy and ecosystems that nature offers… free of
charge?
And why is it so rare that youngsters and grannies hang out?
WHAT IF it’s true what some say? That the modern day society
in many aspects has run off track and become like a pair of pants
soaked in piss when it comes to how we live and get through
daily routines, requirements and personal needs. That it is simply
not natural and puts an unhealthy, tiring and even unsustainable
pressure on ourselves, our surroundings and the planet.
I believe it’s true. And I wanted it to be the underlying ‘why’
behind my work.
I was looking to find out how I could spend this unique opportunity
that a third year at Kaospilot offers on developing a concept that
could combine modern lives with ambitious sustainable solutions.
The idea of working with how we reside and live seemed like a fun,
exciting and obvious field to look into when trying to meet the
above challenges.
I found that the concept should be about:
• Taking care of natural resources
• Making it easy and smart to use sustainable solutions
• Being able to live a “normal” modern life AND at the same

take responsibility for the future of the planet
• Mixing generations to easier inspire and help each other
• Cherishing biodiversity
Through these principles the concept of an eco-village came to
life.
After the last months’ work I’m now standing with an insightful
foundation, a core team and a very exciting network to take the
vision further and potentially make a dream come to life as a
vibrant eco-village on Zealand, Denmark.
In short the developed frame of the eco-village looks like this:
• 25-50 residents
• Close to nature
• Mixed contracts (own, share, rent)
• Communal house and shared facilities
• Ecological houses easily decomposable
• Off grid systems for power and water supply
• Possibility of self-sufficiency
• Commuting distance to Copenhagen
• Public transportation close by
• Business and enterprise within the community
• An open source model freely available and easy to copy

My daughter will turn two years old this summer. This last school
project has almost felt like having a child. A rollercoaster of
emotions, energy and surprises - good and bad.
It’s been a one man pilot project but nothing would have happened
if it wasn’t for all the inspiring, ambitious and talented people I’ve
met, worked with and gotten supported by along the way. Thank
you!
These three things has definitely been confirmed:
1. Perfect is the enemy of good
2. Culture eats strategy for breakfast
3. Asking for help is much much much better than not asking
for help
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Recently a union was established around the concept and a
7 member board, including myself, was elected and has now
taken over the work and responsibility with reaching a shared
vision and continuously develop the concept.
I’m excited to be able to continue the work and look forward to
doing it with an even bigger team.
We are currently working with a plan until 2020 so there’s
plenty on the ‘to do’.

My biggest challenge this year was learning to juggle
My biggest surprise this year was …SURPRISE!
I am most proud of Charlie, my daughter… and the juggling
I discovered that I am good at making other people dream
with me
I need to work on the old summer house Laura (my future
wife) and I bought recently

On a larger scale I’m dreaming of making this concept the
first outcome and product of many from a wider vision about
ensuring sustainable development in many aspects.

I dream about creating creations from dreams

Besides that my life is nothing but a patchwork of varied hopes,
dreams, plans, questions as well as a hint of concern about
what’s next in my life.
And btw! Call me if you want to hang out, okay?

Thomas Persson
persson@kaospilot.dk
Find Sjællandsk Muld on Facebook

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TOPIA

M A J A L idberg

REKL AMÉR

What if we’d live in a society
where you’d be free to live in
whatever way you dreamt of, no
matter your gender, shape or
colour? This question led me to
explore norms which limit our
living, and the possibilities of
destroying them.
What if feminism would be recognized as a method of improving
life, as we know it? Imagine a society where you yourself would be
free to decide how much the genitals you were given at birth were
allowed to influence your identity, salary or personal safety.
Over the past six months I have been on a journey of figuring out
how to deal with and change the structural norms and inequality
in which we live. In Denmark today girls grow up with the belief
that their appearance is what matters most and boys are told not
to show themselves as sad or weak, women are a rarity in leading
positions and men are discouraged to take paternity leave. We live
in a country which self identity declares as being one of the most
equal countries on earth, yet Denmark is one of the nations in
Europe with the highest number of victims of sexual violence and
where feminism as a word is frowned upon.
In November I set out with the intention of making this world
a better place by eliminating inequality between genders, to
promote women’s rights. These are the projects that shaped my
journey.

THE FIRST CONCEPT: REKLAMÉR

My project partner Anne Sofie Steen Sverdrup (Kaospilot T18)
and I, chose to start by working with one single pain point within
structural inequality: sexism in advertisement. To be honest, it
could as well have been sexual violence or equal representation.
However, advertisement is something most people in the modern

world can relate to, no matter what age, gender or ethnicity, and
that gives us a good leverage point to start from.
The recipe is fairly simple; what we do is we file complaints
of sexist advertisement to the legal system. Followers on our
Facebook page send in the complaints and we take on the legal
process of complaining. Our current aim is to gather enough
followers to create a movement and collect enough data to be able
to demonstrate the structural sexism we are exposed to, so that
in the future we can go on and work with responsible advertisers
and help them become more inclusive in their work and less
discriminating.
Ad-by-ad, we are highlighting the oppressing structure they
support, and human-by-human, we are challenging the norms
withholding the structure. Join us on www.facebook.com/
aktionreklamer/

THE SECOND CONCEPT: FEMINISTIC POTLUCK

It started as a personal need of creating a room in which I in
connection with others could explore the meaning behind
feminism, and continued to develop into a series of events held
in Cape Town, Aarhus and Copenhagen. The concept is a space
where we meet around subjects related to feminism. It is a
dialogue, a gathering and feministic inspiration. It is candlelight,
snacks and humour. Its aim is to create community and strengthen
the network between feminists. It is called a potluck as a symbol
of welcoming everyone to the table, stating that we all have
something to bring, no matter our background.
I believe that a diverse dialogue is a necessity in order to reach
an equal society. What is unique with the Potluck is its ability to
create a meeting without ignorance where participants are on an
eye-to-eye level.

THE THIRD CONCEPT: TALK TOWN

Besides developing and leading our self-created parts, an
opportunity we seized was joining forces with two other
organisations to arrange a festival in Copenhagen; Talk Town.
Talk Town is a debate festival held between the 18-20th of May
2016, where all kinds of debates and conversations were in
focus, within the field of gender equality. Its main arrangers were
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Kvinderådet and Indgreb. In Talk Town you could experience
such things as discussions on women and war, workshops on
gender and media and conversations on everyday sexism. There
were opportunities to share a meal, listen to music and enjoy
art made by women from all corners of the world.
It was held as a parallel event on the occasion of Denmark
hosting the international women’s conference Women Deliver.
Our aim was to gather a wide range of voices in the Danish
debate on gender and equality, while adding international
perspectives to the conversation.

My biggest challenge this year was coming out as a Belieber
/ patriarchy

WHAT’S NEXT

I dream about creating a world that provides equal
opportunities no matter gender, shape, colour or heritage.

My biggest surprise this year was ignorance.
I am most proud of Anne Sofie and myself
I discovered that I am good at mentoring, visualizing and
maintaining lightness.
I need to work on my posture.

Reklamér will keep running and ideally within a year, our aim is
to have established such a strong foundation that we can target
the advertisers directly. We intend to develop our concept to
include education about inclusion and anti-discrimination in
advertisement.
The journey of the Feministic Potlucks will continue - soon in a
city near you, perhaps.

Maja Lidberg
maja@aktionreklamer.dk

Other than that, I don’t know. Time will tell, and I am open to
whatever might come. Livin la vida loca.

We’re all natural learners,
born with an insatiable
curiosity” - Maria Montessori,
Italian physician and educator
THE STORY OF OUR PROJECT

We envision a world where everyone has access to progressive
knowledge spaces and communities of practice that cultivate
talent, purpose, creativity and ultimately lifelong learning. That
is why we have formed a project based agency that designs
and facilitates pop up learning spaces. Hereby we create rich
experiences with enlightening content in great settings.
The United Nations’ future sustainable development goals on
quality education aim to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by
the year 2030. We believe that in order to answer such a calling,
a new approach needs to be explored and nurtured. A shift that
reignites the flame of engagement and confidence in individuals to
truly become architects of their own schooling.
This was our point of departure for our Pilot Project. A journey set
to unearth progressive learning projects, spaces and experiences
of the 21st century. A journey that has led us to traverse the
intersection of experiential learning, participatory design and art
of hosting. To explore the dance between pop-up architecture,
experience design, knowledge curation and serendipity. To
understand the chemistry of event design, concept development
and communication.
From this melting pot of research and idyllic inquiry we have laid
a foundation to start collaborations with some engaging partners.
Including the development of short courses for United World
Colleges, where we created alumni specific workshops around the
“art of action within social innovation”.

We are also working on a large scale event for the Kaospilot
organisation. Designing, developing and executing the first yearly
Kaospilot festival aptly named “Agenda Festival” at the end of
September 2016. A two day immersive experience hosted in
the harbour of Aarhus. The two days will reflect the Kaospilot
philosophy and community by focusing on big ideas, learning and
progressive practice. Agenda Festival seeks to build the topics to
be addressed with the community that’s attending. It’s a space to
re-engage the Kaospilot community, extended family and friends
as much as opening the doors for new encounters and relationships
to emerge. “Stay Tuned!”

OUR PROCESS

Our process and approach for our 3rd year has been very much
that of a circus. A narrative that we have danced with throughout
the pilot project.
Our circus is a sphere for wanderers and performers to learn, dare
and play. A place of mystical experience and risky manoeuvre.
An arena to nourish the egocentric character. To hone skill and
routine. Life in the circus is a cauldron of grandiose entertainment
and equal deflation. It’s cheesy. It’s sexy. It’s right and oh so wrong.
There are highs and lows, potholes and hotdogs, and as this chapter
of the journey slows down, we have concluded that in order to
enthral and move people, the show must go on!

WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON

As our collaboration continues it will be a busy couple of months
ahead, preparing the Agenda Festival and other smaller projects.
We are insatiably curious to see where our overall project will take
us. We hope to engage in more pop up learning spaces in new
and interesting ways. Our dream is to work with new clients on
engaging experiences. And finding interesting ways to break down
big ideas in engaging ways for the city slicker.
“Serendipity is not randomness it’s unexpected relevance”

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Daniel
My biggest challenge this year was managing my tabs
My biggest surprise this year was questioning everything
I am most proud of Seth from the OC
I discovered that I am good at #lifeing
I need to work on my downward dog
I dream about creating a genuine public school
Andri
My biggest challenge this year was navigating a new context
My biggest realization this year was that striving for
perfection gets you nowhere
I am most proud of my beautiful wife Edda and my amazing
team!
I discovered that I am good at listening, understanding and
motivating
I need to work on being more proactive
I dream about creating experiences and building relationships

Daniel MorsĂ¸ Christiansen
dmc@kaospilot.dk

Mikkel
My biggest challenge this year was keeping it simple
My biggest surprise this year was the complexity of learning
I am most proud of my childlike curiosity
I discovered that I am good at hosting groovy learning spaces
I need to work on my focus and working smarter not harder
I dream about creating the learning experience of the
century!

Let us discover how democracy
is not just something that we
have, but something that we do
every day. The main focus of this
concept is active citizenship
and the personal responsibility,
which it relies on.
This concept is a break with today’s focus on individualism. In the
service of community I have dedicated my third year at Kaospilot
to encourage social responsibility and activism in the local
communities that we are all a part of.

PUTTING ON MY SHOES

The journey that I have set out on; implementing a hands on
understanding of democracy is still in its early phase. My dream
for the future is that this movement will foster will, awareness and
discernment of how we create society in the everyday.
But as we all know even a journey of a thousand miles begins with
a single step.
I believe that today’s challenges must be solved by the citizens of
the future, and therefore this concept takes its point of departure
amongst young people. More particularly the Danish folk high
schools - to my belief; a resourceful institution for community,
engagement, vigour and cohesion. Qualities that society needs.

MY FIRST STEP

The concept itself is building on a dream of an annually recurring
event happening at all Danish folk high schools to gather them in a
social movement. The intention is to create the notion of cohesion
and tell a strong story of the Danish folk high schools and what
community is capable of – and thereby become an inspiration for

the local civilian society.
Autumn 2016 I am to lead the project “Hvor er det ansvar
som alle må bære?” - an encouragement to act on our social
responsibility. A project that takes its starting point at Silkeborg
folk high school who will then reach out and invite other schools to
participate.
The concept is inspired by “Operation Dagsværk”. Once every
year students all over the country leave books, blackboards and
teachers behind to go out into the society and engage.
The focus of this specific concept is to encourage the folk high
schools and more importantly their students to be aware of their
social responsibility and act on it within their local community. The
purpose is for them to meet individuals and their social needs in
order to create a whole and more cohesive community.
Also, there is an important task of anchoring this experience within
the students to ensure continued vigour in the students’ future life
– active citizenship.
Spring 2016 I have designed the curriculum “Responsibility and
activism”. Teaching this course for a small group of students is
an active research on how to design and implement the actual
project.

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY

The past year I have been involved with different organizations
empowering young people to believe in themselves and take part
in community and our Danish democracy. I am the proud cocreator of the following projects that have taught me a whole lot
about democracy, teaching, leadership, and managing volunteers.
Ungdoms Bureauet: A youth agency creating a new democratic
youth festival. (“Ungdommens Folkemøde”) Approximately
15.000 young people will take part in dialogues, debates and
workshops offered by organizations, companies and politicians. The
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intention is to create a space for young people to dream, speak
their mind and develop ideas for our future society.

My biggest challenge this year was finding the project
My biggest surprise this year was people’s willingness to help

KFUM & KFUK: A Christian youth organization creating a
learning festival for 600 boarding school students. The focus is
co-creation and building social capital amongst young people
in order to empower them in their life competences.

I am most proud of taking social responsibility
I discovered that I am good at classes – as long as I am
teaching ;)

Arbejdermuseet: A museum creating the exhibition “UHØRT
UNGDOM” and teaching materials on how to encourage
young people to take part in democracy. As a part of that
exhibition I am hosting a workshop on personal rebellion.

I need to work on documenting and sharing my work to
inspire. Sharing is caring :)
I dream about creating a new “hands on” understanding of
democracy

All these projects are most needed since studies show that
young Danes have a low democratic self-confidence even
though they are rated as very competent democrats when it
comes to knowledge, life principles and judgment.
The main focus points of these projects have been the act of
seeing each other, speaking one’s mind and to listen to each
other. That´s where I saw a need to add the “act of doing” - a
hands on approach to democracy. We need to be aware that
with the power we are given or encouraged to take, also comes
a responsibility of acting upon it and bringing it to life in our
society – towards each other.

Mette Bøge Kousgaard
mbk@kaospilot.dk

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TOPIA

N ikolai S cheldon J ensen

The storytelling conundrum

Today storytelling has become
one of those words used in
multiple fields and with great
variance in its application, so
what is storytelling? My journey
began with an investigation of
the modern day storytellers,
their crafts and what
traditions they come from.
What a rich world lies in this massive field ranging from the
storytelling that is meant to develop human beings through their
own stories or the skills to find the essence in a story and help
making it clear. As marketing that seeks to drag us into their
stories or the good story where Disney in many years have been
masters. All of this springs from the same well, humans have
been using stories since the earliest times and the masters of
these stories have had roles as advisors, teachers, entertainers
and ambassadors. These roles where often mixed with other
responsibilities as a Viking “skjald” that would go into battle or an
African culture where a shaman would also be a healer.
My overall concept is called Trickster, an agency within the
storytelling community. To make this real I have been exploring
different fields as a storyteller, building my craft and exploring
the possibilities. The more I learn, the more I can teach and from
teaching I learn again. This builds the foundation of a community
that enables shared growth.
The components I have explored are:
• Living stories with Rantzausminde Efterskole - a process
taking the students into stories to have them develop both
skills and understanding.
• Empowering young people through “Orkerne kommer” - a

project partnered by Nordea-fonden with three million
Danish kroner to develop 200 young leaders in the
roleplaying community.
• Vocational workshops to develop the awareness among
participants of their calling.
• Creating community through understanding of shared stories
and how to create new with Ulvsborg Historisk Værksted.
• Doing lectures on both storytelling and my personal story
moving beyond a burnout.
So where does this leave me? With a lot of new knowledge,
different projects to work upon in the future, a strong network and
passion to do more.

MY PROCESS

This process has started many years ago, I have always been a
storyteller in my own right and becoming a kaospilot has enabled
me to explore that even further, creating stronger understandings
and new work methods that strengthen my work.
Trickster was a name that I came up with when I applied for the
school and it has traveled with me ever since. In many ways it
has been about sailing into the great unknown with a dream and
passion to make a difference with the stories of our world. If
anything this has been and still is a project of life, developing both
professionally and personally. Laying the bricks for future work.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Dreams coming true! The next step is creating the foundation
for my work in financial and community aspects. This will be
manifested in opening Live Escape Rooms in Odense, providing
a steady income, a place to educate staff, explorer techniques,
tools, and basing the community. This base will then be the fertile
ground from which further exploration and work will come into the
fields of storytelling, leadership and essence work.

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My biggest challenge this year was accepting my own
fallibility
My biggest surprise this year was finding my own feet
planted in solid ground
I am most proud of the hearts and minds I have touched
I discovered that I am good at empowering to action
I need to work on focus

Nikolai Scheldon Jensen
nsj@kaospilot.dk

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TOPIA

O tto K ubista

OKclothing
- Can fashion be sustainable?

For many years I have had the
dream of one day starting a
clothing brand.
Today that is a reality!
During my third year at
Kaospilot I have created
garments made from organic
cotton and
hemp. Naturally dyed and
produced in South Africa.
In a world where we shop like maniacs to follow trends and buy
new things when our old clothing fails to look 100% new, these are
some facts that apply to most of the clothing in our wardrobes:
• One t-shirt requires almost 3000l/water to make≈ That is the
equivalent to fortytwo 10min showers.
• Over two million people in Bangladesh earn 25£/month
(minimum wage in Bangladesh is 45£) but factories have
to produce a lot of clothes, very cheap and fast to live up to
supplying the Global North with trendy clothes! Same goes
for Uzbekistan, India, China, Cambodia and more..
• Chemicals in t-shirts are cancerogenic, some of these are
prohibited in Europe. But because they are produced outside
of Europe it does not seem to be a problem. Basically, what
we are wearing is poisoning us.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel comfortable wearing
people’s misery, the suffering of our ecosystem, or something that
poisons me through the skin.

MY PROCESS

Many times I have not been sure what I am doing. I have been
taught how to work as a fashion designer, clothes dyer, promoter,
website creator, accountant etc.
Being engulfed by making clothes has been challenging and fun. I
have worked with wonderful tailors, friends and likeminded people.
A lot of my work has been researching the field and understanding
what creating a brand includes. But also how to create it.
I wish everyone could sit in a river boiling red dirt to dye a
t-shirt created by yourself. That feeling has been great; to have
something to be proud of that exists.
The thing that has been important to me is to look at what does
not exist within this field. There are brands that have created
clothes made from hemp, with social impacts and naturally dyed.
Unfortunately (for us hipsters) they are not “cool”. It is mainly
yoga wear, mom/dad comfy trousers or clothes you would see on
someone smelling funky, living in a van.
I want to create clothes that are fashionable and attractive to the
eye.

THE NEXT STEPS

This is the exciting part. I have a couple of collaborations coming
up and I am about to start up in Scandinavia. I have explored South
Africa where I started the brand and even travelled in Taiwan
to explore the origin of hemp. Coming back I am gonna sell my
t-shirts, yes, they are already here!
I plan to continue my project, to connect with new amazing
people and to create what I can for a better world. One t-shirt at
the time! In the near future I will collaborate on making a bigger
collection and to work towards expanding the team at OKclothing.
Let’s not only make attractive products that are made to break.

I have created OKclothing. A brand that aspires to slow down
fashion, not mass-producing clothing. So if you are interested
in garments that have been dyed in rivers, made from hemp, are
biodegradable and are made by happy people - this is your new
go-to brand!
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My biggest challenge this year was macchiato or cappuccino
My biggest surprise this year was Donald Trump
I am most proud of South Africa
I discovered that I am good at growing hair
I need to work on beach2016
I dream about creating outdoor kitchen

What if church was the most
creative place in town? This
question led me to explore
the concept of church and if
an innovation culture and a
church culture can be bridged.
What if church was so inspiring and uplifting that people from
all over society could not be stopped from going there? Imagine
that people would personally feel deeply connected with God and
each other in a way that totally transformed their way of living and
interacting with each other.
The past six months I’ve been working in a very traditional system
with a very long history. As many other organizations of today,
the Church is facing great challenges. The Church of Sweden
has the past 15 year been loosing one million members. Only the
past year 67.000 people left the organization. This means a loss
in income equal to 125 million SEK. Church of Sweden is far
from the only church that is currently dealing with these kinds of
challenges. I set out this year to explore the concept of church
and to see if there could be a bridge between an innovation culture
and church culture. I ended up in a slow and challenging process,
while involved in church development work in Sweden, England
and Denmark. The past months my main focus has been within
organizational development in Sweden, trying to address some of
the challenges from within the system.

THE CONCEPT

Within the next two years, I hope to have a functioning church
development program for Swedish Churches up and running.
Ideally I aim to sustain myself through this work.

THE PROCESS

I wanted to explore how traditional church could be reinvented

to better respond to the needs of a younger audience in Sweden.
Today less than 30% of the church is under 40 years old in some
churches. Initially I started dreaming of all the amazing things you
could do with churches if you got the chance.
During my work I realized that many churches in Sweden are
challenged in knowing what they are about and why they exist.
Many have a lot of different activities, but are not really sure of
why. What had started as exploration of innovation, soon landed in
organizational development processes.

COLLABORATORS

In my initial project research phase I reached out to learn and
engage with a lot of different churches and people. I ended up with
six collaborators that have greatly contributed to my learning:
• A church development program in Portsmouth England by
the Anglican Church. After visiting for a few days and taking
part in one of their workshops, a more extensive collaboration
has been planned.
• Partaking in the initial prototype of church development of
the Baptist church in Denmark by the innovation agency
Bespoke. Exchanging experiences and potentially doing
something in Sweden under their brand.
• Becoming a board member of Cross Culture international
church group in Uppsala. This has given direct insights into
the cycles and life of a small local congregation. These are
perspectives that I find very valuable when addressing the
national challenges of churches today.
• Working as secretary of the Board for EFS (missional church
movement within the Church of Sweden), national level. This
collaboration has been more demanding, while bringing more
understanding to how systems are currently changed on a
national level.
• Running workshops for EFS and Salt (Christian youth
movement within EFS). Has provided experience and handson learning in process facilitation. It is clear to me, that this
aspect of organizational change becomes hugely important to
implement decisions into a system.
• Teaching at the theological seminar in Uppsala, Johannelund
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on the topics of process and innovation. Lecturing has
forced me deeper into my theoretical understanding,
challenging myself in what I think I know, and what I
actually know.

My biggest challenge this year was to be working within a
system with a completely different mindset
My biggest realization this year was how much I need my
team and other creative people to thrive.

NEXT STEPS:

I am most proud of my hard work, I have worked really hard
the past half year.

• After Kaospilot I will continue to work for EFS, 80%
until the end of the year. I hope to continue influence
the system toward building a more inclusive and creative
culture that can attract younger people.
• I have just started my own company to keep running
workshops and to do consulting aside from my
employment. Recently new opportunities have presented
themselves within the Church of Sweden, and I hope to
work more with them in the future.
• I am slowly working on developing my brand and company
a bit more, to be able to offer more tailored workshops and
consulting, targeting churches.
• Deepening my current collaborations and relationships.
• I am extending my network in the creative field, and
especially within design thinking to keep getting creative
input through assignments outside the religious realm.

I discovered that I am good at strategic thinking.
I need to work on so many things! The organizational
development and culture-building field is huge!
I dream about creating change!

Rebecka Cada
cada@kaospilot.dk
se.linkedin.com/in/rebecka-cada

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R asmus H viid B ach

Co-creation in municipalities

I am deeply concerned about
the Danish welfare system when
it comes to my own, my family’s
and the rest of the population’s
future prospects in terms of
social security, health care,
educational system etc. There
are many challenges which
put the welfare system under
pressure, both now and even
more so in the future. I believe
that we need to find new ways
to act, and here the public
sector, civil society and private
companies have a role to play
together.
MY PROCESS

During my pilot project I have worked with ‘Center for Offentlig
Kompetenceudvikling’ (COK).
COK is a semi-public consultancy firm, which specializes in
organizational development as well as educating employees
and leaders in the public sector. COK has recently started an
Academy for Co-creation where I am part of a team of five
people, who are to develop methods for co-creation on the basis
of the gathering of knowledge and experience within the field.

The idea is to spread out these methods to the 98 municipalities
in Denmark. In this context, COK is very interesting as it has
an extensive platform with the prospects of educating 25.00030.000 public employees and leaders on an annual basis.

THE STORY OF mY PROJECT

Some of the side effects of the lack of resources in the welfare
system are seen now, for example at overloaded hospital corridors,
in social welfare cutbacks as well as in the way we treat people in
need, for instance refugees fleeing from war . If we want to avoid
having a discount version of the welfare society in the future,
there is a strong need for reinventing how the public sector is run
most efficiently while still bringing true value to it’s citizens.
The model for this should be one where both the civil society and
the public and private sectors come together and jointly develop
the welfare solutions of tomorrow through co-creation, bringing
maximum value for all for the scarce resources at hand.
Over the last years, the public sector has undergone quite
significant changes. In the municipalities especially, one of the
most striking trends is the increasing focus on the co-creation
(Samskabelse). In essence, co-creation is all about strengthening
the democracy locally, securing a better quality of public services
and economize on public resources by working in new ways and
in other cooperational relations. It is about finding joint solutions
for common problems, which cannot be solved by one part alone.
In co-creation you work together in solving some of the central
and wicked problems that our welfare society is facing. The parties
are entering a relationship on equal terms where solutions for
challenges are found in cooperation with the citizens affected by
the issue at hand. The citizens actively take part in finding and
being part of the solution.
In the process of co-creation the citizen is included from the very
beginning and is also involved in the responsibility for finding a
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solution for the challenge in question. Among other things,
this is done by looking at the resources of the individual citizen,
his or her network, in the municipalities as well as in the civil
society. The role of the municipality is increasingly a facilitating
one where relevant parties are identified and involved in the
process.

My biggest challenge this year was working within a big and
complex political system
My biggest surprise this year was how many opportunities
there are for making change
I am most proud of finding something Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m passionate about!

In order to succeed with co-creation for the benefit of
everyone, it requires that all parties, i.e. the public and private
sectors as well as the civil society, are committed and devoted
to the cause. My main concern is that this can prove to be
extremely challenging as the welfare systems is a field of
tension subject to constantly changing political prioritizations
and strict demands for thorough documentation and while
having to serve an increasingly older population with the
resources of the much smaller younger generations.

I discovered that I am good at seeing possibilities and
combine existing things in new ways
I need to work on work life balance
I dream about creating a good life

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEXT?

Engaging in the field of co-creation during my third year has
been highly inspirational and has given me the ambition of
pursuing it further in my professional career to come â&#x20AC;&#x201C; either
as a consultant in a consultancy firm or directly in the public
sector.

Rasmus Hviid Bach
rhb@kaospilot.dk
+45 53562390

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T homas N ymark H orsted

Startup Guide
- The “Lonely Planet” for entrepreneurs!

My final year project was to
create a financially sustainable
and scalable business
concept for Startup Guide,
to make entrepreneurship
more accessible and easier
to approach on a local and
global scale.
THE STORY OF THE PROJECT

The entrepreneur is the new rock star! Up to 70 percent of the
millennial-generation born between the early 1980’s and the
early 2000’s has the desire to start their own company. What is
sparking this urge to set out and start up? Is it the rock star-appeal
of the Silicon Valley icon, romanticized by Mark Zuckerberg, Steve
Jobs and Elon Musk? It might have played a part, yet surveys show
that a tough job market, making a positive impact and integrating
work and life are the reasons. By 2020, almost half of the global
workforce will be made out of millennials.
In 2012, my business partner, Sissel Hansen, moved to Berlin
and found herself in a city where she did not know anyone. The
culture was different and the rules and regulations of how to start
a business were different. She found herself struggling to find out
how and where to start. In her bag she had her faithful friend,
Lonely Planet for Berlin, which could tell her where to sleep, eat
and drink coffee. This is when the idea for Startup Guide was born
- in the cross section between traditional city guidebook and the
startup-scene.
Startup Guide is a book series filled with inspiration, case-stories,

advice and how to’s on starting a business in a city. It is based on
the idea of a traditional guidebook to help you find secret spots,
to know where to go, who to talk to and what not to miss. All
recommended by the people who know the city the best - the
locals.
My final year project was to create a financially sustainable and
scalable business concept for Startup Guide. We have created a
“franchise model” and business strategy, where local established
teams are empowered and enabled to gain ownership of the
concept and produce a Startup Guide for their city. We want to be
able to make a Startup Guide for every city and entrepreneur that
wants one. We want to make entrepreneurship more accessible
and easier to approach on a local and global scale.

THE PROCESS

As the co-owner and managing partner of Startup Guide I have
been involved in all phases and responsibility areas on daily
operations, management and development during my final year
project. Furthermore, the company is a startup, and so I have
experienced first hand the list of challenges that comes with
entrepreneurship; trying to establish a brand, keeping the business
profitable, dealing with the unknown, decision-making, and hiring
and firing.
I have had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of inspiring people in
startups; corporates, co-working spaces, non-profit organizations
and government institutions. The project has taken me to Helsinki,
Stockholm, Berlin, Silicon Valley, Boston, New York and Austin.
I have acted as an owner, employee, mentor, student and friend.
I have adopted roles such as facilitator, relationship builder,
project manager, fundraiser, coffee maker, event manager and
public speaker. It has been a struggle keeping the overview and
working towards a focused vision as new tasks and challenges have
constantly appeared. There have been times where motivation has
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been low and our goals seemed far away. Through this I have
learned how important it is to keep your head cool during the
hard times. If you stay patient, focused and work hard, better
times will come. The diversity of roles and responsibilities has
been a tremendous opportunity for learning, and the learning
curve has been steep. It has given me strength and confidence
in myself as a leader and entrepreneur.

My biggest challenge this year was managing two projects in
Copenhagen, while having lectures in Aarhus

WHAT’S NEXT?

I discovered that I am good at over cooking soft boiled eggs.

My biggest surprise this year was my ability to keep cool in
difficult situations
I am most proud of all the positive feedback we receive from
collaborators and readers

In June 2016, we are releasing Startup Guide Stockholm,
where our first local “franchisee” has produced the guide
independently. We will continue to develop and validate this
model and have already started a dialogue with franchisees
in London, Lisbon and Vienna with more cities to come. By
end of the year, we hope to have created another five Startup
Guides and to be a sustainable business with many more guides
to come over the next years - and hopefully with many more
successful entrepreneurs to follow.

I need to work my work-life balance
I dream about creating value for people and communities

Thomas Nymark Horsted
thomas@startupguide.world
startupguide.world

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H elene A rnfred

Combining science & art

Are we able to break down
the humans conformity in
regards to their profession
through interdisciplinary work
and thereby change humans
relationship with other life?
Can we change the product
supply chain if we understand
the origin of the materials and
life-circles?
THE STORY OF MY PROJECT

At first I had an urge to work with my hands. I had a feeling that
what I needed was to be in a process with fewer words and more
action. I wanted to change how I interacted with both materials
and other people. I realised that If I wanted to change the way
people understand themselves in a community, I needed to be part
of a community and not just by myself, alone in a workshop.
I wanted to work with how people consume and what they
consume, but the product supply chain is almost too complex
to comprehend, and this realization made me want to try to
understand the way we produce and use materials. I found a
possibility of combining the artistic and scientific approach to
create something new entirely. New products made from nonsynthetic materials.

Another realization I made was about the way we understand
ourselves as humans, and mostly how we look at ourselves as being
divided from nature. We have high thoughts of ourselves, but we
must admit that we can’t compete with the complex nature which
surrounds us. I believe that the answers to better solutions lies all
around us - we just have to know where to look!

MY PROCESS

In my research I found that many people were already working
towards the same goals as I. Interdisciplinary work is everywhere
and universities around the world are starting to teach scientist the
field of art and vise-versa. There is a huge need to find alternatives
and retouch our production methods. My wish is that we break
free from our sense of being superior beings, and instead begin to
see ourselves as part of a bigger whole.
I’ve been in Reykjavik working closely together with the Icelandic
Academy of the Arts creating an interdisciplinary lab combining
science and art in order to research Icelandic Materials. A lab
looking into new ways of using the non-synthetic materials at
hand. I have, in collaboration with a professor from the academy,
gone in depths with what a lab should look like, and how we can
create a new way of learning and producing. Besides the project in
Reykjavik I have also been in contact with other really interesting
communities in Denmark, Brazil and Norway. [HG1]

WHAT’S NEXT?

I hope to continue working with the interdisciplinarity between art
and sciens and soon hope to go from taking in knowledge, to start
expressing my knowledge through lectures and workshops etc.

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My biggest challenge this year was to break free from what I
have been taught as a western human.
My biggest realization this year was everything is about
relationships. Also, collective consciousness must be a thing.
I am most proud of to have so inspiring people in my life.
I discovered that I am good at making people feel seen.
I need to work everything, let me forever work on it.

hen I resigned as Minister of Culture, and
when I left my old political party, The Danish
Social Liberals, I was deemed a dead man
walking in Danish politics. I stood alone, with
no colleagues, on the fringes of a political
establishment I couldn’t identify with. In my opinion the
political status quo was not interesting enough, not courageous
enough, and not visionary enough. A status quo I was simply
unable to accept.
Founding The Alternative in 2013 did nothing to remove the
label. Pundits and commentators alike all agreed that the party
was stillborn. To many it was unthinkable to launch a political
party the way we did; with only a one-page manifesto, six values
(Humor, Humility, Generosity, Transparency, Empathy, and
Courage), and the idea to crowd source our political program
through a series of political laboratories, designed to bridge
the gap between the Danish Parliament and an increasingly
distrusting public.
On top of this it was clear from the beginning that The
Alternative would not identify with the old political ideologies
of left and right, believing them to stand in the way of the kind
of creativity needed to face an uncertain future.
For all these reasons the political establishment – colleagues,
pundits, and journalists – were quick to deem our success an
impossibility; to call it a utopia. I think the reason is that The
Alternative was – and still is – something inconceivable within
the narrow, existing constraints of traditional party politics.

As Oscar Wilde said: “Progress is the realization of utopias”,
and so realizing a utopia is exactly what we in the Alternative
did. Against all odds we stormed into the Danish Parliament
with 4,8% of the popular vote. Now, a short year after the
elections, opinion polls put us at 8,1% of the popular vote.
In Norway, a sister party has been launched, and we are
engaged with progressive parties all over Europe, determined
to create a progressive path forward for the European Union. I
do not know where this journey ends, but I know politics is no
longer uninteresting, or lacking in courage or visionary ideas.
It would be wrong to say I never have doubts. In fact I have
many. But I find great strength and courage to press on when I
think that we are in the process of paving the way for the kind
of sustainable society I want to hand down to my grandchildren.
You might be wondering, why I am telling you my story. Why I
feel so confident that it is of relevance to you. I do so because
there is one thought in particular that I would like each and
every one of you to carry with you as you graduate from the
Kaospilot: Always stay on the fringes of the familiar! I promise
you that from here you will be able to do great things. Doing
what is expected, what is deemed necessary, or continuing
with business-as-usual are the polar opposites of what I believe
graduating from The KaosPilots obligates you to do.
So dear graduate: Stay true to yourself - remain an outsider remain a rebel.
- Uffe Elbæk

t’s been a hard sixteen years. It’s perhaps tempting to audit the century so far
through some sort of catechism, a litany of names that if we repeated enough would
somehow undo the spell and free us from injustice.

We walk our paths coated with the dust from a thousand moments of fear. Each of
these moments carries a particular horror. But the spectacular horror that blasts across
social media is not what keeps me up at night. It’s not that horror turning my feet to
lead as I face the future.
There is the moment, when an atrocity occurs and the calls for blood grow louder
and louder. It’s the collective echo of a lynch mob played across our simultaneously
shrinking and expanding screens. It’s the inevitable threshold where we cross, and join,
to greater or lesser degrees, a drumbeat of voices howling for blood, for retribution.
I have experienced that moment of horror with increasing frequency. I can feel in my
bones the vibration of voices raised, of denunciations of inhumanity, of monsters in
our midst. I hear animal voices distorted, calling for the elimination of these monsters,
calling for death to rain down in the name of some perverted justice. These voices echo
from shore to shore, from the shining city on the hill.
And I’m afraid. Because in these calls do not arise from a love of justice, but from
fear, rage and anger, from a desire for retribution. In that fear, rage and anger lies the
permission to transgress all laws and all norms, but all in the name of a higher calling
- for our children, for peace, for justice or for our nation. That road is the road to hell.
That road is the road that leads directly to a camp above which float the words “Arbeit
macht frei.”
Every horror perpetuated against humanity was perpetuated in the name of a higher
good, a utopian value if you like. The only way human beings can tolerate the horrors
they visit on each other is if they believe they are acting in the name of a higher good,
for what could be, not what is. The torture of men and women is really only possible if it
is done in the name of freedom. This is why a Madeline Albright can dismiss the deaths
of Iraqi children and a member of Isis can saw the head off a journalist. Both are the
same phenomenon. This is why voices calling out for justice, the drumbeat of the lynch
mob, are a pervasion, a corruption of all that is good.
As we contemplate the road, what will we stand for? Will we stand for reality as it is? Or
a reality that should be? Will we sharpen our hearts and minds to resist the siren call of
the utopian? How we answer these questions will determine everything.

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A favorite
springtime
ritual of
mine, for
years,
has been the
planning and
planting of a
garden
By BLISS BROWNE

Last week I was invited to do so in Chicago by my youngest
daughter, now pregnant with her first child. The particular offer
was to bring alive a patio area in her first home where concrete
had dominion and turn it into a place of flourishing.
Garden planting begins with the question “What would I
(or we) like to see growing here?” Others join in asking and
answering the question. A shared vision emerges. Elements
get integrated to form a whole. Plans are developed, resources
marshaled and implementation begins. As the garden
begins to take shape, other ideas emerge, weather and local
conditions set boundaries (and often create delays), plans
change, existing resources get redeployed and shifted. The
soil needs to be modified and given air. Digging leads to
unexpected treasures and obstacles. Old roots often prove
intractable. Backs and legs grow weary and sore. But there
is such joy... imagining, figuring out what will grow well and
look good, preparing the soil, being surprised, contending with
the weather, working hard, getting muddy, transforming the
imagined into the visible... participating in a new ecology of life.
The planning and planting of gardens has much in
common with Imagine Chicago’s work and your
path as Kaospilots. Both create opportunities and processes
for groups to talk and work together for a better future.
Imagine Chicago (the name itself an invitation to create
in a place), like the Kaospilot education, expands the
possibility of everyone’s becoming a “gardener” --actively
shaping and transforming environments. Some practices are
key. Constructive communication expands imagination and
calls people beyond fear and division. Meaningful connections,
shared strategic purposes and active curiosity lead to
improved organizations and lives; with skilled facilitation, many
wills and imaginations can together shape a common
environment in a way which sustains life for everyone.
A sense of place is at the heart of reimagining communities. All
life and work happen in context; context shapes understanding
and action. Even in an expanding virtual reality environment,
place is how we orient ourselves; we make sense of life as we
“locate” ourselves inside the complexities of life’s mysteries and
of the human and natural order. Each of our views is partial
and particular. Sustainable living depends on seeing ourselves
in the context of the whole and living in a way that serves the
whole. Ethics, integrity are grounded in understanding that
everything is connected to everything else.
So how do we build vibrant connections in service of the whole?

Our time together in year one began with articulating dreams
you wanted to grow and plant. What, we asked, is your
animating vision of the future? What question might
engage others with that vision? Peers joined in asking and
answering the question. We explored helpful frameworks for
inspiring change, especially the importance of constructive
questions that discover and connect trusted experiences and
values. Imagination and hope began to take root and grow.
A year later, we worked together again, just before
your process consulting assignments. Your knowledge, tools
and skills had grown significantly. How best to bring your
considerable gardening skills to bear in contexts where new
ideas needed planting or the soil had grown inhospitable? We
talked again about the power of questions in opening spaces for
learning, and how to stay strategically focused-- in the service
of a fruitful and worthy mission.
Last October, we reconnected as you were beginning to
design your own projects. Questions of planning and planting
abounded…how to start, involve other people, and build
collaborations? How to understand the local weather patterns,
sustain oneself, stay open and connected, bring experience and
strengths to bear on the challenges at hand? Another organic
metaphor entered the dialogue. We noted that giving birth (like
gardening) is always exciting, messy and painful and that skilled
midwives and community support greatly improve survival
odds. What does new life require to survive? How can we work
together in service of that?
KP education is a complex learning system; many elements are
integrated, over time, to form a whole. Reflecting alone and
together, you have discovered hidden gardens within yourselves
and each other. Learning systematic cooperation through
experimentation, you have become creative, self-aware
gardeners of life and learning.
The world is full of stories of violence, loss and division. You
know the power of imagination, hope and collaboration to
produce innovation and community. What will the garden
look like in which you keep hope alive for those now suffering
most? What more can you do to encourage others to imagine,
and dig in, and plant? What will you plant with your children,
and others’ children, that will bear fruit and inspire their own
confidence and creativity?

105

Congratulations Team 20!
Blessings on your plantings and flourishings!

KAO SP I LOT T EAM 2 0

TOPIA

Topia:
Personal
Reflections
of an
unfinished
and imperfect
business.
By María Susana Muhamad

here are some of us who pursuit transformation
in society the same way Don Quijote travels
to find monsters in windmills. There is always
a new horizon, a new image, a new possibility.
But usually my experience is of discontent, of
a quite unfinished process. Once the objective
is reached, a new paradox emerges, a new
contradiction; I have experienced a never ending search, a
journey without a final destination. Maybe topia is made of the
lessons, the process and the experience, but not the result.
My quest, during the last fifteen years, has been about
pursuing sustainability. While attending university, I thought
that by solving the energy paradox through a transformation
of oil companies, change could be achieved. I applied to Shell
for my first job, lured in by their prominent advertisements
highlighting sustainability. I was immediately attracted by
their innovation platform, a multidisciplinary group of people
working on reaching new horizons for society, re-designing
systems such as transport, and transforming cities. I worked
in developing partnerships to build sustainable settlements
through oil projects. I asked myself whether the company
could leave a legacy of sustainable utilities and infrastructure
by investing oil money: in other words, old energy money
invested into new possibilities. I developed the concept, built
external and internal partnerships, climbed the corporate
ladder, articulated the networks, raised thirty million dollars, in
an effort to prove the model in eight projects, and I was ready
to quit once the mainstream business took the project on.
However, I quit earlier when the corporate strategy changed
from innovation in renewables to investing in tar-sands, shale
oil, and fracking, the most unsustainable energy sources of
our time. Through this process, I learnt an invaluable lesson
in integrity and coherence. Even if I could accept transitional
possibilities other than renewables, it was important for me to
sustain a DNA based on integrity among purpose, ends, and
means.
I thought I had learnt a valuable lesson on how political power
works, but in reality, I never experienced such power as when
I was part of the City Hall in Bogotรก, Colombia. I decided to
root myself back in my native Colombia after living for eight
years between South Africa and Europe. It was time to gather
a decade of experience and plant a seed. I craved for roots and
identity, and I understood that the political field required a regeneration of sorts.

Returning to a country turned apart by conflict and war,
with the purpose of entering the political world, was an
extraordinary adventure. I became part of a left wing coalition
which started a new political movement based on a network
structure, which through a citizenship platform, was able to
elect Gustavo Petro as the Mayor of Bogotรก, a city with a
population of eight million. Petro became the first former
guerrilla member to hold such place in government. I was part
of the team which introduced sustainability in the government
program, ideas which were not very present in the Colombian
political agenda. As part of the coalition, I became Secretary
of Environment, and we created the first development plan to
adapt the city to Climate Change, transforming land use to
fulfill this purpose. We also led an innovative process geared
at transforming the existing transport fleet in the city, into
electric vehicles, and created the largest market in the world
for sustainable buses. Beyond transportation, we re-settled
three thousand families in flood and landslide prone areas,
recovered fifty-seven kilometers of streams, and recognized
and legally protected forty thousand additional hectares
of ecosystems surrounding the city. These were some of
the initiatives that we pioneered while in office. Evidently,
we had political will, but we lacked a solid power coalition.
Four years later, the opposition party won, and although the
transformational process we began is currently being scaled
back, the level of social consciousness in the population has
changed. Regardless of our accomplishments, the question
remains: did we make a real difference?
I believe that bringing topia to life is an imperfect process, given
the dynamic nature of life. As soon as a new reality is imagined
the basis for that transformation is changed. Implementation is
chaotic, messy, and busy. Social transformation does not entail
a technical problem, it involves power dynamics, politics, ego,
conflict, lack of structure and anxiety. It requires the capacity
to balance the inner and outer self, it moves and transforms
people beyond their believed capabilities, it is exciting, and
as stakes get higher, it is a dangerous process. I feel that the
impact of social transformation is invisible and that it has a time
dynamic other than my own perception.
There are times when I have reached states of inner silence and
have the realization that everything comes from my own self
expression. In those moments, I am able to take a step back and
join the dance of life in harmony. I have experienced realizing
topia as a battle, the question I ask myself now is: Could
realizing topia be a dance rather than a battle?

I awake without an alarm clock, completely naturally every
morning. The same goes for all the other seven billion people on
the planet; the only difference is that we don’t wake up at the
same time. Could you just imagine if all of us seven billion people
would turn on the power and empty our trash cans at the same
time? That would probably take a far better supply network,
and one that would have to be twice the size of the earth!
Fortunately, I live in a very small place where we’re only 3700
people during the winter and 20.000 people in summer, and our
supply network can definitely handle that.
At the time of writing I’m in the northern hemisphere, in the
center of Denmark out in the middle of the sea called the
Kattegat. If you’re ever in these parts, look for the sea port Kolby
Kaas, and I’ll serve you a cup of coffee. Kås is an old Danish word
for a primitive boat harbour. Along the Danish coasts there used
to be a number of boat harbours, which were usually built from
stone (moles).
This morning I’m trying to keep both my eyes shut, preferably for
as long as possible. Try and shut your eyelids. At this moment I’m
investigating where the light might be in the room. I often enjoy
hunting the natural light; I paint with light. In order to handle
this knowledge I have trained my attention in the following way:
Which aperture must I adjust my objective to, how much light
should I let in? Here, the timer setting is crucial if I am to be able
to fixate and choose whether figure or background should be in
focus.

2030. We Samsings can’t be stopped – we have come to stay. In
my optics, with 1/30 on the timer setting and the aperture on 11,
there’s not a lot of room for hands that shake. The photo, which
I have since developed, illustrates how a tribe of people have
changed behaviour. We have invested 440 mio. Danish Kroner
and developed a common mindset. What a center and what a
wonderful world.

The contact is the relation

We Samsings still awake every single day to new dilemmas
and conflicts that have to be solved. We all have many inner
dialogues about what might happen if we just applied ourselves
a little more. Or if that powerful person only listened to that
other powerful person. But a good night’s sleep takes care of
everything. Some are driven by a desire to prove themselves,
and others are driven by common sense. If I were to tell the
Samsings that someone from outside of Samsø thinks that the
Samsings are special, esoteric creatures who must be in some
kind of stronger pact with our dreams, the locals, in their own
conservative way, would be embarrassed. In essence, there is no
single person who could have done what Samsø has done alone.
That is the solution.
This is a real example of how getting off course can feel, and how
together we can try to come back on course.

Silence before disruption

Together with 3700 Samsings I wake every morning with a good
gut feeling. The decisive breakthrough came 17 years ago, when
we as an island participated in a competition initiated by the
Danish government and the Danish Energy Agency. Which island
could become self-sufficient with wind and sun and biomass over
10 years starting in 1997? The plan was to build on solid public
support, well-known technology and the legal rules already in
place.

One late night on Samsø, about 6 years ago, after an evening
meeting in the board of Stormur, I entered the driveway to park
our bison brown Suzuki in the garage. Because of the salt water in
the air everything rusts quickly so the car has to be protected. It
is hours since the sun went down. I blink in the darkness and feel
that the wind has gone down. Then I register a completely foreign
sound. Two weeks later it turns out that it is an incredibly rare
bird whose song I’m hearing in the darkness. It is a he, and it is a
Russian Savi’s warbler. His song is long and intense. The Russian
Savi’s warbler is calling his mate. She never comes, because he
has landed in the wrong place, completely off course. This is an
example of the exception that defies possibility. Ornithologists
came from all over Denmark to experience this rare bird in our
backyard. It puzzles me how it took me two weeks to fully register
this magical phenomenon. It remained a mystery why he only
sang when it was dark and you couldn’t see the bird. We listened
to the Savi’s warbler for three weeks, and we know that it’s not
going to happen again.We will never forget the bird’s song.

We are Denmark’s Renewable Energy Island, and we’re still
working on figuring out how we can phase out diesel and gas by

The whole is in the detail

I’m working on a new anthology. The substance is that a whole
island comes together and transforms into a producer of
renewable energy. At this moment we’re working on becoming
a sustainable island. But I won’t write about that here. I want to
invite you – it must be experienced by meeting the place and the
people who live here, everyday, on Samsø.

Four months ago, a woman wrote to me out of the blue. She said she’d finished a Ph.D. in philosophy and
mentioned her love of meditating, green tea, and her child. I couldn’t understand much of what she had
written. There were words with which I was unfamiliar, whole phrases that were grammatically correct yet
opaque, a style I can only describe as unique. I thought it was poetry. I thought she was a man.
For some time after that, silence. Then, in a cascade of emails I received from her in early February, she
referred to her “vagina­face” having been “cut”; to grave “spiritual offenses” wrought upon her by Dr. BL
and Dr. JN by “reflecting and projecting”; to following in the Davidic line; to a son abused by “reflecting
and projecting” as well as a friend dead; to bleeding, sexual misuse, and persecution. In a lucid moment
that departed sharply from the rest, she wrote, “​D​o you have a person that will help me, as I fear I am
losing my mind, and slowly going insane. I may already have schizophrenia, hearing their voices.”
*
Before me is the stranger and the question is: will I be a good Samaritan? The story of the good Samaritan
should by now be familiar to us. A “man of the law” is testing Jesus concerning what he should do to be
worthy of achieving eternal life and Jesus has him recite the law. Love God and love your neighbor. But
this man pushes further, trying Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers him by telling a parable:
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped
him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going
down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite,
when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he
traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought
him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense
you may have.” (Luke 10:25­37)
In The Corruption of Christianity, Ivan Illich takes the story of the Good Samaritan to be the crux of the
radical Gospel message. Each of us is free to choose whether we see this man whom we do not know as
o​ur neighbor, someone to pick up and carry away and see after. Just so, each of us can also choose to
neglect him, passing him by as others have done before, leaving him for someone else or for some other
agency to deal with.
What is at once poignant, horrible, and arguably true about the history Illich wants to tell is that
modernity is precisely that “betrayal,” that “corruption” of the Gospel, for it is in our age when
such a man would be taken up into and treated by a system. If he is called “mentally ill,” then there is one
system for him. If hungry, another. If physically sick, another. If homeless, another. If out of work, another
still. C​aritas​has become charity, hospitality in its ancient sense now just “checking in.” Some system will
take care of him and if not this one, then surely that one­­or that one over there.
*
I tell you this story about a woman­­this refugee, this exile, l​’étranger­​­--who has come to me asking for my
help in the hope of ridding you of a deep and persistent temptation. It is this: if some system is unjust,
then there must be some other system we can create that would be just.
No. What the story of the Good Samaritan entreats of each of us is that ​I ​come face to face with You,​ the
question being d​angerously posed to me alone:​ shall I​​continue to see you as a stranger, passing coldly by
you in the night, or shall​I​turn to see Y​ou​ as my neighbor?
My friends, beware of the cult of scales and systems. The question of how I stand to each person I meet
must come first. On this piece of land upon which you stand, a plot that is neither yours nor hers, on this
hinterland, this strange topia, will you look her in the eyes and call her You?

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The
World
of
Cashmere
BY Gunter Pauli

Over the past four decades, I have dedicated myself to
working with channelling the creative force of business
and entrepreneurship in service of meeting humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
basic needs and restoring nature to its evolutionary path. I
have supported, connected and learned from thousands of
scientists, artists, entrepreneurs and community leaders.
Inspired by the genius of nature and a radical sense of
purpose, these brave and creative people look beyond
standard ready-made answers, offered at most business
schools, to discover new business models that make the
impossible possible. These spaces of possibility can be found
all over the World, and I would like to share the background
to one of one of our current projects, in Mongolia.

The key for any entrepreneur is to remain positive and search
for opportunities. Identify ways and means where no one else
has ventured and imagine a business model that will - in the
first place - make the herders happy, so happy that his children
believe that the future is with the goats and the steppe. This
requires us to change the rules of the game.

If you wear a fine and soft cashmere sweater, then you are
likely to contribute to the desertification of Mongolia. I did
not like the idea nor the reference, but the hard reality is that
we are often not aware of the unintended consequences we
cause wearing some of the finest clothing. Even if that organic
sweater carries an organic label, it does not automatically imply
that the absence of chemicals turns the goats’ hair sustainable.
Whenever there is an expanding desert then the response is not
planting trees, we need to first improve the livelihood of the
herders.

The first that must change is pricing. Since everyone is adding
their commissions on top of the previous cost price, herders
must receive the same compensation model as a designer: 10%
on sales price. After all, if there is no cashmere, then there is no
commission. Even if cashmere were sold direct at half the price,
then the herders’ revenues would increase with factor six. So
with half the number of sheep, he would still double income,
while reversing the advance of the Gobi Desert.

When you analyse the value chain of a cashmere sweater
bought over the internet, then it is with dismay that we realise
that the company that facilitates the payment, PayPal earns as
much on the sale of this sweater as the herder who dedicates
his and his family’s life to the wellbeing of his animals and the
careful shaving of the goat’s hair. The only way to survive - he
and many others believe - is to own more goats grazing for free
on public land, and to cut costs for washing, spinning, dying,
weaving, sewing and selling.

The second shift is processing. The world’s production of cotton
is just under 100 million tons, cashmere is a mere 12,000 tons.
Why would one ever subject cashmere to the same productivity
logic as cotton where everything is subjected to that fast
changing fashion. While the world of production thrives on
outsourcing, it forces a few to specialise and seek volume.
Every intermediate product will be shipped around. The answer
is vertical integration from wool to wear. While this does not
offer high speed and high efficiency, it permits differentiation
from selecting fine hairs to spinning desirable threats to create
unique effects.

It is amazing that we consider it normal that a designer gets
10% of the final piece of clothing sold; we also consider it
normal that the provider of an industrial design is compensated
with royalties on the products and services that emanate from
this creation. It is therefore shocking that everyone (especially
economists) expect farmers and herders to subject themselves
to the “world market price” and accept poverty when demand
and speculation pushes the price below cost of sustainance.
These fluctuations stimulate these custodians of the earth to
attempt to produce more at lower financial costs at whatever
environmental and social cost. We all know that the more
goats, the more desertification, and the higher the volume
the more standardisation which leads to less creative input of
qualified workers, turning people into machines pressing the
margins to all time lows.

Third we need to enlighten clients, buying precious clothing
not as an object but as a remarkable symbiosis between the
need of goats to insulate their body against freezing winds with
a protein-based hair, while protecting the body with a water
repellent cover in harmony with a thousand year old crafts from
sheering to designing this marvel from Nature creating a sea of
comfort and softness. If this is well done, as imagined in 1-2-3
then we have no more need to plant trees to fight an advancing
desert. The steppe will recover its evolutionary path it has
enjoyed for millennia even before Genghis Khan ruled between
China and Europe.

If nomads who have herded these animals for millennia only see
their short term reality, risking overgrazing while outsourcing
spinning to the cheapest, adhering to a production and
distribution model that offers no wealth, not even a revenue
then children will emigrate. It is important at this point to
remain positive and refrain from searching for a culprit,
accusing the responsibles, and complaining about the money
for the middlemen.

Epilogue
The ZERI EU - Foundation for a Blue Economy is teaming
up with the Tuvd Agency in Berlin, the GOBI cashmere
production company in Ulan Bator, and the designer Sybilla
Sorondo from Spain to create a special cashmere line that will
be sold exclusively at pop-up stores in Tokyo, Madrid and New
York.

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Three
Fundamental
Errors of Most
Educational
Systems
and What To
Do About
Them!
By Carol Sanford

ducation has more in common with duct tape than you might
think. Not because it’s used to hold things together but because
it comes from the same etymological root. The second syllable
of education, “duc,” derives from ductile, as does duct tape.
According to Merriam-Webster, to be ductile is to be “capable of being
bent or pulled into new shapes.” Duct tape is used to conduct or pull
along the energy of an original source, such as electricity. Duct tape and
education, thus, have to do with the opposite of putting in.
But, sadly, putting in is exactly what most schools attempt to do. They
have lost the “ductility” perspective and are dedicated solely to the
selection of curricula for their students and appraisal of their success
at absorbing assigned content. Thus they attempt to fill students
up rather than pull out their unique qualities and help them develop
complementary abilities.
Three arenas, foundational to human development, are the real job of
education, and offer alternatives to guide human development more
effectively.

Internal Locus of Control

According to cognitive psychology, people tend either to take
accountability for their choices or to blame others for their
disappointments. We locate control over what happens in our lives
either externally, originating from sources outside ourselves, or
internally, emerging from and remaining within ourselves. Schools
that decide the entire content of their curriculums and grade students
on the performance of rote tasks, are teaching students to believe in
external locus of control.
First Fundamental Error – Schools foster the belief that we are not in
control of what happens to and around us by what they teach and how
they teach it.
Alternative – Help students value and develop internal locus of control
in order to make them parents, workers, and citizens capable of shaping
their own lives and communities. Schools that teach self-evaluation
and help students develop their own ideas for self-development, are
teaching internal locus of control.

External Considering

What are we willing to take into account—to consider deeply—as we
make decisions? Are we self-centered and self-referential? Do we
look inside ourselves and think only about the effects of actions on our
personal selves? Or do we additionally consider how everyone who has
a stake in the outcome might be affected? External considering is a
philosophical concept that claims people have more meaningful and
fulfilling lives when they use external considering as the basis of decision
making.
Most educational institutions today do not place primary emphasis on

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Three
Fundamental
Errors of Most
Educational
Systems
and What To
Do About
Them!

self-initiation toward chosen intentions. Without this we cannot
develop self-agency.

external considering. Instead they engage with students as
individuals, rarely allowing them the experience of working
together in teams toward shared ends. Even assignments that
include ideas of greater world outcomes are not graded in a way
to foster connections among students and the students and the
real world effects. Individuals are graded on how well they do
working independently of others.

In the last decade, I have watched my grandson test out of high
school before age ten and earn top SAT scores in math and
science that caused an avalanche of invitations to college. He
didn’t accomplish this by sitting in classes. He excelled because
he passionately wanted to study those subjects.

By Carol Sanford

Second Fundamental Error – Schools foster internal
considering, causing students to make decisions without
considering of the effects of their actions on others.
Alternative – Allow students to work together in cohorts,
focused on creating real-life outcomes by studying and working
together. Schools that organize learning this way include team
self-evaluation based on how well cohorts worked together and
with others outside their group, not just how much or what they
take in of the lessons. How did their effort affect all of their
chosen stakeholders? Grade, in any, are self-assigned based
on group, and even stakeholder, reflections. This develops in
students the ability to see the effects of personal actions on
others and to project outcomes that include everyone involved.

Third Fundamental Error – Schools base education on the belief
that filling up students with what teachers know is their most
important activity.
Alternative – No curriculum, no traditional teaching, that
isn’t based on students’ own determination of what they are
curious about and want to learn to do. A program like this take
a lot of courage on the part of educators, who must rise to the
challenges posed by students and find ways to support them.

Schools that find ways to liberate learning are proving that it’s
easy to engage very young children in complex and meaningful
ideas. In this scenario there is no content that must be absorbed
and tested and there are no grades. Instead children are driven
by what interests them to discover and learn and to develop
efficacy in order to act on their curiosity.
Educators have to decide what are they really in the business of.
Is it developing human beings, drawing out what students care
about, and engaging in what will help them grow? Or providing
answers? It might be helpful to consider what the basis of human
development really is. I offer that it is about fostering internal
locus of control, experiencing external considering and having
that culminate into personal agency blossoming out of a growing
self-efficacy. Human Development is the deep meaning of
educaré. To draw out what it means to be fully human.

Personal Agency

Another psychological concept speaks to an individual’s belief
in themself, their sense of efficacy and their confidence that
their actions can create beneficial effects in the world. Personal
agency is essential to what it means to be human. It is an
experience that is essential to the working of democracies and to
our creativity and innovation in many spheres. It gives meaning
to our participation in the world.
However, our most basic life processes—parenting, education,
and work—undermine our efficacy and thus our personal agency.
Because so much is prescribed and proscribed in our lives, we are
left untested. We fail to develop the ability to produce desired
effects. Schools in particular, because we spend so much time
in them when we are of an age to develop efficacy, discourage